Combining spectroscopic techniques to determine the optical constants of powdered lactose

A method for deriving the optical constants (n/k) of organic powdered materials using pressed pellets in the mid-infrared spectral range is introduced that combines variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry and transmission spectroscopy. The approach is applied to anhydrous lactose, in which three different forms of pellets were pressed and measured: a pure lactose pellet and a mixed lactose/potassium bromide (KBr) pellet with a large analyte percentage were used for ellipsometric measurements, and a KBr transmission pellet with only a small analyte percentage was used for transmission measurements. The transmittance data provide an initial set of oscillators and improve the spectral fitting of weak absorption features (k<0.01). Ellipsometric data for the pure and mixed pellets are then fit simultaneously to derive the final n/k values for lactose from 6000-400cm^-1. An alternative method just using the ellipsometric data from the mixed pellet and the transmittance data is also presented and shows good agreement with the multi-sample analysis, providing a simpler method for powders that do not press easily into pure pellets. Finally, the derived optical constants were used to model the reflectance data, demonstrating a good match with the measured reflectance spectra if non-idealities are included.