Graphene

The UVISEL Spectroscopic Ellipsometer is the ideal tool for reliable film thickness and optical constants characterization of amorphous carbon coatings, even in difficult cases where the film thickness is very thin. Roughness, and interface "adhesion" can also been determined.

Raman has shown a high potential in characterising the SWCNTs' structure. The correlation between knowledge about structure with physical and chemical properties about the tubes make the technique extremely powerful to control the quality of the SWCNTs for specific applications. Raman spectrometer capabilities like spatial resolution, spectral resolution and excitation wavelength versatility have been examined. Beside Raman, preliminary fluorescence studies are describing the potential of the technique.

The Raman spectra of the various forms of elemental carbon are very sensitive to the type of nearest neighbour bonding, and to intermediate and long range order. In many cases Raman spectroscopy is the technique of choice for characterization of carbon materials. Correlation of Raman spectral features with tribological properties can facilitate the deposition of carbon films.

Graphene is a new nanomaterial which may partially replace silicon in microcircuits and computer chips in the future. In order to better understand its quality characteristics, fast reliable techniques that deliver the right property measures are needed. Raman spectroscopy has emerged as a key technique for studying this exceptional material.

In this work, spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) was successfully applied to characterize the optical properties and the thicknesses of doped and undoped diamond layers. The sensitivity of this technique enables the doped layer to be distinguished from the undoped one in a sample consisting of a stack of these two layers. Moreover, an interface between the two layers has been detected. This work and others reported previously show clearly that ellipsometry is the technique of choice for the characterization of optical and structural properties of layered materials thanks to its sensitivity and the wide range of information it provides.

The Raman spectra of elemental carbon materials are known to be sensitive to polymorphy. For hard carbon films, the spectra of amorphous and diamond-like carbons can be band-fit to separate the contributions of the "graphitic carbon" (G band) from the "disordered carbon" (D band). The spectral behaviour of carbon films has been empirically correlated with thin film physical properties such as hardness, durability, optical transparency, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance, and can be of use for prediction of these properties without extensive alternative testing. The DiskRam has been designed to automate the collection of Raman spectra from hard carbon coatings on computer hard disk media and the extraction of parameters that are well correlated with the properties of the films. The extracted information is output in spreadsheet format for SPC at a manufacturing facility.

The colour enhancement treatment on native brown and yellow diamonds can be highlighted by Photoluminescence analyses performed with the Raman spectrometer LabRAM HR. The PL signature of green and violet diamonds has also been recorded. The defect centres responsible of the colour of the diamonds have all been detected and assigned. This proves the Raman spectrometer to be a very good tool to investigate the fine defects in the Diamond structure by Photoluminescence analysis.