DECONVOLUTION OF THE RAMAN-SPECTRUM OF AMORPHOUS-CARBON

A constrained non-linear deconvolution method was used to analyse the Raman spectrum of amorphous carbon. The method was tested by applying it to a model spectrum. Before the deconvolution the observed Raman sp ectrum was smoothed by a least-squares convoluting procedure. The prop er width of the spread function used in the deconvolution was determin ed by examining the reversibility of the deconvolution process. The de convolution result for the Raman spectrum of amorphous carbon has a fo rm very similar to the phonon density of states of graphite. This is t aken to be additional evidence for Shuker and Gamon's model for Raman spectra of amorphous materials. Potentially, the deconvolution method can also be used for other aspects of Raman spectrum analysis of amorp hous materials, such as finding the relative intensity of each peak of study the structure of the material.