Identifying the effect of photo-generated carriers on the phonons in rutile TiO_(2) through Raman spectroscopy

Investigating lattice vibrations through Raman spectroscopy is a crucial method for studying crystalline materials.Carriers can interact with lattices and influence lattice vibrations;thus,it is feasible to study the effect of photo-generated carriers on phonons by analyzing changes in the Raman spectra of semiconductors.Rutile is one of the predominant crystalline phases of TiO_(2),which is a widely utilized metal oxide semiconductor.In this work,rutile TiO_(2) is coated on a thinned optical fiber to concentrate ultraviolet light energy within the material,thereby enhancing the generation of carriers and amplifying the changes in the Raman spectra.A Raman detection laser with a wavelength of 532 nm is utilized to collect the Raman spectra of rutile TiO_(2) during irradiation.Using this setup,the impact of photo-generated carriers on the phonons corresponding to Raman vibrational modes is researched.The localization and non-radiative recombination of photo-generated carriers contribute to a reduction in both the frequencies and lifetimes of phonons.This work provides a novel approach to researching the effect of carriers on phonons.

Rapid and real-time analysis of multi-component dissolved gas in seawater by Raman spectroscopy combined with continuous gas-liquid separator

Rapid and sensitive detection of dissolved gases in seawater is quite essential for the investigation of the global carbon cycle.Large quantities of in situ optical detection techniques showed restricted measurement efficiency,owing to the single gas sensor without the identification ability of multiple gases.In this work,a novel gas-liquid Raman detection method of monitoring the multi-component dissolved gases was proposed based on a continuous gas-liquid separator under a large difference of partial pressure.The limit of detection(LOD)of the gas Raman spectrometer could arrive at about 14 μl·L^(-1)for N_(2)gas.Moreover,based on the continuous gas-liquid separation process,the detection time of the dissolved gases could be largely decreased to about 200 s compared with that of the traditional detection method(30 min).Effect of equilibrium time on gas-liquid separation process indicated that the extracted efficiency and decay time of these dissolved gases was CO_(2)>O_(2)>N_(2).In addition,the analysis of the relationship between equilibrium time and flow speed indicated that the decay time decreased with the increase of the flow speed.The validation and application of the developed system presented its great potential for studying the components and spatiotemporal distribution of dissolved gases in seawater.

Investigation on Binding between Cations and Amides using UV Raman Spectroscopy

The interaction of proteins with salt ions plays an important role in life activities.We used butyramide as a model molecule to investigate the interaction of protein backbones with cations.The experiment was performed in an aqueous solution of metal chloride using UV Raman spectroscopy.It was found that well-hydrated metal cations(Ca^(2+),Mg^(2+))tend to bind to C=O in the amide bond,resulting in redistribution of the amide I band peaks.Specifically,the peak intensity ratio of 1655 cm^(-1)to 1610 cm^(-1)increases significantly with increasing concentrations.However,this phenomenon is not obviously observed in NaCl solution.Furthermore,we studied the effect of salt ions on the water structures.The addition of Ca^(2+)and Mg^(2+)is beneficial to the enhancement of the water signal at the 3400 cm^(-1)position,while the Na^(+)at the same concentration is not obvious.The results have shown that the interaction between cations and amides satisfies the following order:Ca^(2+)>Mg^(2+)>Na^(+),which conforms to the Hofmeister series.

Rapid analysis of Chinese steamed bread staling using Raman Spectroscopy

Staling is an important issue that Chinese steamed bread(CSB)may encounter during storage,which significantly affects their taste,flavor,and nutritional value.The monitoring technology for rapid aging is particularly important to effectively control the aging process of CSB,reduce quality deterioration,and promote the industrial production of CSB.Raman spectroscopy has been widely used in the study of food structure and properties due to its non-destructive and high-sensitivity characteristics,particularly demonstrating unique advantages in the analysis of starch structure.This study explored the possibility of analyzing the staling of CSB using Raman spectroscopy based on hardness and moisture content.Analysis of the correlation between the hardness of CSB and the full width at half maximum(FWHM)at 480 cm^(−1)during storage was conducted,and a significant positive correlation between them was found,with R^(2)above 0.8.Besides,nine characteristic peaks of CSB samples related to starch were selected for analysis.As the moisture content of CSB decreased,the peak intensities and areas of showed an upward trend during storage,with the best correlation coefficient above 0.8 revealed by linear regression analysis.Therefore,Raman spectra could be used as a potential method for the fast prediction of CSB staling.

Evaluation on residual stresses of silicon-doped CVD diamond films using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy

The effect of silicon doping on the residual stress of CVD diamond films is examined using both X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and Raman spectroscopy measurements. The examined Si-doped diamond films are deposited on WC-Co substrates in a home-made bias-enhanced HFCVD apparatus. Ethyl silicate (Si(OC2H5)4) is dissolved in acetone to obtain various Si/C mole ratio ranging from 0.1% to 1.4% in the reaction gas. Characterizations with SEM and XRD indicate increasing silicon concentration may result in grain size decreasing and diamond [110] texture becoming dominant. The residual stress values of as-deposited Si-doped diamond films are evaluated by both sin2ψ method, which measures the (220) diamond Bragg diffraction peaks using XRD, with ψ-values ranging from 0° to 45°, and Raman spectroscopy, which detects the diamond Raman peak shift from the natural diamond line at 1332 cm-1. The residual stress evolution on the silicon doping level estimated from the above two methods presents rather good agreements, exhibiting that all deposited Si-doped diamond films present compressive stress and the sample with Si/C mole ratio of 0.1% possesses the largest residual stress of ~1.75 GPa (Raman) or ~2.3 GPa (XRD). As the silicon doping level is up further, the residual stress reduces to a relative stable value around 1.3 GPa.

Raman spectroscopy and ionic structure of Na_3AlF_(6-)Al_2O_3 melts

Raman spectrum of molten cryolite was recorded. Based on the new understanding of the scattering coefficients, contents of various structural entities in acidic NaF-AlF3 melts at 942-1 024 ℃ in previous research were reanalyzed. The new quantitative analysis results show that when cryolite ratio（CR） is less than 2, AlF4- is the dominant anion in the melts, and its mole fraction is about 0.70 for melts with CR=1.5 and 0.50 for melts with CR=2. When CR is more than 2.5, the mole fraction of AlF6^3- is relatively large, which is around 0.45 for melts with CR=2.5. Ionic structure of Na3AlF6-Al2O3 melts was investigated by UV-Raman spectroscopy. Octahedral AlF6^3- and tetrahedral AlF4- are proved to exist with possible partial replacement of F- by O^2-. Al2O2F4^2- with a large scattering coefficient also exists in the melts in which alumina concentration is more than 4% （mass fraction）. The increase of temperature causes blue-shift of the bands in the Raman spectra.

Raman Spectroscopy of Nitrogen Clathrate Hydrates

Nitrogen hydrate samples were synthesized using liquid nitrogen and powder ice at 16 MPa and 253 K. Confocal laser Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the characteristics of nitrogen clathrate hydrates. The results show that the Raman peaks of N-N and O-H stretching vibration in nitrogen hydrates are observed at 2322.4 and 3092.1 cm^-1, respectively, which are very similar to those in natural air clathrate hydrates. For comparison, we measured the Raman peaks of N-N stretching vibration both in liquid nitrogen and nitrogen molecules saturated water, which appear at 2326.6 and 2325.0 cm^-1, respectively. The Raman spectroscopic observations on the dissociation process suggest that nitrogen molecules occupy both the large and small cages in nitrogen clathrate hydrates. However, only one Raman peak is observed for N N stretching vibration because the difference of the environment of nitrogen molecules between large and small cages is too small to be differentiated by Raman spectroscopy.

Optical penetration of surface-enhanced micro-scale spatial offset Raman spectroscopy in turbid gel and biological tissue

The limited penetration of photons in biological tissue restricts the deep-tissue detection and imaging application.The micro-scale spatially offset Raman spectroscopy(micro-SORS)with an optical fiber probe,colleting photons from deeper regions by offsetting the position of laser excitation from the collection optics in a range of hundreds of microns,shows great potential to be integrated with endoscopy for inside-body noninvasive detection by circumventing this restric-tion,particularly with the combination of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy(SERS).However,a detailed tissue penetration study of micro-SORS in combination with SERS is still lacking.Herein,we compared the signal decay of enhanced Raman nanotags through the tissue phantom of agarose gel and the biological tissue of porcine muscle in the near-infrared(NIR)region using a portable Raman spectrometer with a micro-SORS probe(2.1 mm in diameter)and a conventional hand-held probe(9.7mm in diameter).Two kinds of Raman nanotags were prepared from gold nanorods decorated with the nonresonant(4-nitrobenzenethiol)or resonant Raman reporter molecules(IR-780 iodide).The SERS measurements show that the penetration depths of two Raman nanotags are both over 2 cm in agarose gel and 3 mm in porcine muscle.The depth could be improved to over 4 cm in agarose gel and 5 mm in porcine tissue when using the micro-SORS system.This demonstrates the superiority of optical-fiber micro-SORS system over the conventional Raman detection for the detection of nanotags in deeper layers in the turbid medium and biological tissue,offering the possibility of combining the micro-SORS technique with SERS for noninvasive in vivo endoscopy-integrated clinical application.

Fast Fabrication and Judgement of Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy-Active Tips

The quality of the scanning tip is crucial for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy(TERS)experiments towards large signal enhancement and high spatial resolution.In this work,we report a controllable fabrication method to prepare TERS-active tips by modifying the tip apex at the atomic scale,and propose two important criteria to in-situ judge the tip’s TERS activity for tip-enhanced Raman measurements.One criterion is based on the downshift of the first image potential state to monitor the coupling between the far-field incident laser and near-field plasmon;the other is based on the appearance of the low-wavenumber Raman peaks associated with an atomistic protrusion at the tip apex to judge the coupling efficiency of emissions from the near field to the far field.This work provides an effective method to quickly fabricate and judge TERS-active tips before real TERS experiments on target molecules and other materials,which is believed to be instrumental for the development of TERS and other tip-enhanced spectroscopic techniques.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy chips based on two-dimensional materials beyond graphene

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy(SERS) based on two-dimensional(2 D) materials has attracted great attention over the past decade. Compared with metallic materials, which enhance Raman signals via the surface plasmon effect, 2 D materials integrated on silicon substrates are ideal for use in the fabrication of plasmon-free SERS chips, with the advantages of outstanding fluorescence quenching capability, excellent biomolecular compatibility, tunable Fermi levels, and potentially lowcost material preparation. Moreover, recent studies have shown that the limits of detection of 2 D-material-based SERS may be comparable with those of metallic substrates, which has aroused significant research interest. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the advances in SERS chips based on 2 D materials. As several excellent reviews of graphene-enhanced Raman spectroscopy have been published in the past decade, here, we focus only on 2 D materials beyond graphene, i.e., transition metal dichalcogenides, black phosphorus, hexagonal boron nitride, 2 D titanium carbide or nitride, and their heterostructures. We hope that this paper can serve as a useful reference for researchers specializing in 2 D materials, spectroscopy, and diverse applications related to chemical and biological sensing.

Different angle-resolved polarization configurations of Raman spectroscopy: A case on the basal and edge plane of two-dimensional materials

Angle-resolved polarized Raman（ARPR） spectroscopy can be utilized to assign the Raman modes based on crystal symmetry and Raman selection rules and also to characterize the crystallographic orientation of anisotropic materials.However, polarized Raman measurements can be implemented by several different configurations and thus lead to different results. In this work, we systematically analyze three typical polarization configurations： 1） to change the polarization of the incident laser, 2） to rotate the sample, and 3） to set a half-wave plate in the common optical path of incident laser and scattered Raman signal to simultaneously vary their polarization directions. We provide a general approach of polarization analysis on the Raman intensity under the three polarization configurations and demonstrate that the latter two cases are equivalent to each other. Because the basal plane of highly ordered pyrolytic graphite（HOPG） exhibits isotropic feature and its edge plane is highly anisotropic, HOPG can be treated as a modelling system to study ARPR spectroscopy of twodimensional materials on their basal and edge planes. Therefore, we verify the ARPR behaviors of HOPG on its basal and edge planes at three different polarization configurations. The orientation direction of HOPG edge plane can be accurately determined by the angle-resolved polarization-dependent G mode intensity without rotating sample, which shows potential application for orientation determination of other anisotropic and vertically standing two-dimensional materials and other materials.

Determination of inner pressure for fluid inclusions by Raman spectroscopy and its application

Using a Diamond Anvil Cell combined with micro Raman spectroscopy, the quantitative relations among Raman shifts, pressure and temperature were obtained for the vibration of O-H in H2O-NaCl, C-O in CO3^2-, S-O in SO4^2- and C-H in n-heptane-cyclohexane. Based on the quantitative relationships obtained, it is possible to determine the inner pressure for single fluid inclusions and to further determine the isochore of the systems. It is not only helpful to obtain the forming temperatures and pressures of the enclosing minerals, but also to be able to provide information concerning the chemical compositions of the fluid inclusions.

Interzeolite transformation from FAU to CHA and MFI zeolites monitored by UV Raman spectroscopy

As a powerful and sensitive tool for the characterization of zeolite building units,UV Raman spectroscopy has been used to monitor interzeolite transformation from FAU to CHA and MFI zeolites.The results show that the behavior of double 6-membered rings(D6Rs)in the FAU zeolite framework plays an important role during the formation of the target product in the interzeolite transformation.For the transformation of FAU to CHA,because both zeolites contain the same D6R units,direct transformation occurs,in which the D6Rs were largely unchanged.In contrast,for the transformation of FAU to MFI,the D6Rs can be divided into two single 6-membered rings(S6Rs),which further assembled into the MFI structure.In this crystallization,5-membered rings(5Rs)are only observed in the MFI framework formation,suggesting that the basic building units in the transformation of FAU to MFI are S6Rs rather than 5Rs.These insights will be helpful for further understanding of the interzeolite transformation.

Application of confocal laser Raman spectroscopy on marine sediment microplastics

Marine sediment is the primary sink of microplastics and is an indicator of pollution levels.However,although there are well-developed detection methods,detection is rarely focused on lowmicrometer-sized particles,mainly due to technique limitations.In this study,a simplifi ed process omitting digestion procedures was developed to pretreat microplastics obtained from marine sediment and was coupled with micro-Raman spectroscopy to identify microplastics.Based on the overall analysis of the characteristic peak assignments,a Raman spectral reference library was constructed for 18 types of plastic.In addition,the eff ects of the measurement parameters were systematically described.Field research was then conducted to validate the developed process and investigate microplastic contamination in Huiquan Bay,Qingdao,China.This simplifi ed process could retain the original appearance of microparticles and accomplish the detection of<500μm-sized microplastics in environmental samples.Microplastics in the size range of 10-150μm accounted for 76%of all microplastics,and 56%of the total particles was particles smaller than 50μm.Polypropylene(42%)and polyethylene(20%)were predominant components of the particles.In particular,polypropylene particles smaller than 10μm were identifi ed in marine sediment.This work demonstrates that Raman spectroscopy is not only an eff ective tool for detecting environmental particles but also highly applicable for identifying particles extracted from marine sediment.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of serum predicts sensitivity to docetaxel-based chemotherapy in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

Docetaxel-based chemotherapy,as the first-line treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer(mCRPC),has succeeded in helping quite a number of patients to improve quality of life and prolong survival time.However,almost half of mCRPC patients are not sensitive to docetaxel chemotherapy initially.This study aimed to establish models to predict sensitivity to docetaxel chemotherapy in patients with mCRPC by using serum surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy(SERS).A total of 32 mCPRC patients who underwent docetaxel chemo-therapy at our center from July 2016 to March 2018 were included in this study.Patients were dichotomized in prostate-specific antigen(PSA)response group(n=17)versus PSA failure group(n=15)according to the response to docetaxel.In total 64 matched spectra from 32 mCRPC patients were obtained by using SERS of serum at baseline(q0)and after 1 cycle of docetaxel chemotherapy(ql).Comparing Raman peaks of serum samples at baseline(q0)be-tween two groups,significant differences revealed at the peaks of 638,810,890(p<0.05)and 1136cm^(-1)(p<0.01).The prediction models of peak 1363 cm^(-1)and principal component anal-ysis and linear discriminant analysis(PCA-LDA)based on Raman data were established,re-spectively.The sensitivity and specificity of the prediction models were 71%,80%and 69%,78%through the way of leave-one-out cross-validation.According to the results of five-cross-valida-tion,the PCA-LDA model revealed an accuracy of 0.73 and AUC of 0.83.

Highly accurate colorectal cancer prediction model based on Raman spectroscopy using patient serum

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer(CRC) is an important disease worldwide, accounting for the second highest number of cancer-related deaths and the third highest number of new cancer cases. The blood test is a simple and minimally invasive diagnostic test. However, there is currently no blood test that can accurately diagnose CRC.AIM To develop a comprehensive, spontaneous, minimally invasive, label-free, bloodbased CRC screening technique based on Raman spectroscopy.METHODS We used Raman spectra recorded using 184 serum samples obtained from patients undergoing colonoscopies. Patients with malignant tumor histories as well as those with cancers in organs other than the large intestine were excluded. Consequently, the specific diseases of 184 patients were CRC(12), rectal neuroendocrine tumor(2), colorectal adenoma(68), colorectal hyperplastic polyp(18), and others(84). We used the 1064-nm wavelength laser for excitation. The power of the laser was set to 200 mW.RESULTS Use of the recorded Raman spectra as training data allowed the construction of a boosted tree CRC prediction model based on machine learning. Therefore, the generalized R^2 values for CRC, adenomas, hyperplastic polyps, and neuroendocrine tumors were 0.9982, 0.9630, 0.9962, and 0.9986, respectively.CONCLUSION For machine learning using Raman spectral data, a highly accurate CRC prediction model with a high R^2 value was constructed. We are currently planning studies to demonstrate the accuracy of this model with a large amount of additional data.

Interfacial stress characterization of GaN epitaxial layer with sapphire substrate by confocal Raman spectroscopy

As an important wide-bandgap semiconductor,gallium nitride(GaN)has attracted considerable attention.This paper describes the use of confocal Raman spectroscopy to characterize undoped GaN,n-type GaN,and p-type GaN through depth profiling using 405-,532-,and 638-nm wavelength lasers.The Raman signal intensity of the sapphire substrate at different focal depths is studied to analyze the depth resolution.Based on the shift of the E2 H mode of the GaN epitaxial layer,the interfacial stress for different types of GaN is characterized and calculated.The results show that the maximum interfacial stress appears approximately at the junction of the GaN and the sapphire substrate.Local interfacial stress analysis between the GaN epitaxial layer and the substrate will be very helpful in furthering the applications of GaN devices.

Structural change of molybdenum sulfide facilitates the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction at neutral pH as revealed by in situ Raman spectroscopy

Molybdenum sulfides are promising electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER).Sand Mo‐related species have been proposed as the active site for forming adsorbed hydrogen to initiate the HER;however,the nature of the interaction between Mo centers and S ligands is unclear.Further,the development of cost‐effective water‐splitting systems using neutral water as a proton source for H2evolution is highly desirable,whereas the mechanism of the HER at neutral pH is rarely discussed.Here,the structural change in the Mo?Mo and S?S species in a synthesized molybdenum sulfide was monitored at neutral pH using in situ electrochemical Raman spectroscopy.Analysis of the potential dependent Raman spectra revealed that the band assigned to a terminal S?S species emerged along with synchronized changes in the frequency of the Mo?Mo,Mo3?μ3S,and Mo?S vibrational bands.This indicates that Mo?Mo bonds and terminal S?S ligands play synergistic roles in facilitating hydrogen evolution,likely via the internal reorganization of trinuclear Mo3?thio species.The nature and role of metal‐ligand interactions in the HER revealed in this study demonstrated a mechanism that is distinct from those reported previously in which the S or Mo sites function independently.

Thermal maturity evaluation using Raman spectroscopy for oil shale samples of USA:comparisons with vitrinite reflectance and pyrolysis methods

Thermal maturity is commonly assessed by various geochemical screening methods(e.g.,pyrolysis and organic petrology).In this contribution,we attempt to establish an alternative approach to estimating thermal maturity with Raman spectroscopy,using 24 North American oil shale samples with thermal maturity data generated by vitrinite reflectance(VRo%)and pyrolysis(Tmax)-based maturity calculation(VRe%).The representative shale samples are from the Haynesville(East Texas),Woodford(West Texas),Eagle Ford and Pearsall(South Texas)Formations,as well as Gothic,Mancos,and Niobrara Formation shales(all from Colorado).The Raman spectra of disordered carbonaceous matter(D1 and G bands separation)of these samples were directly obtained from the rock chips without prior sample preparation.Using the Gaussian and Lorentzian distribution approach,thermal maturities from VR were correlated with carbon G and D1.We found that the Raman band separation(RBS)displayed a better correlation for equivalent VRe%than vitrinite reflectance VRo%.The RBS(D1–G)distance versus total organic carbon,free hydrocarbons from thermal extraction(S1),and the remaining hydrocarbon generating potential(S2)indicate that the RBS(D1–G)distance is also related to kerogen type.Data presented here from three methods of maturity determination of shale demonstrate that Raman spectroscopy is a quick and valid approach to thermal maturity assessment.

Synthesis of nitrogen-doped single-walled carbon nanotubes and monitoring of doping by Raman spectroscopy

Nitrogen-doped single-walled carbon nanotubes （CNx-SWNTs） with tunable dopant concentrations were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition （CVD）, and their structure and elemental composition were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy （TEM） in combination with electron energy loss spectroscopy （EELS）. By comparing the Raman spectra of pristine and doped nanotubes, we observed the doping-induced Raman G band phonon stiffening and 2D band phonon softening, both of which reflect doping-induced renormalization of the electron and phonon energies in the nan- otubes and behave as expected in accord with the n-type doping effect. On the basis of first principles calculations of the distribution of delocalized carrier density in both the pristine and doped nanotubes, we show how the n-type doping occurs when nitrogen heteroatoms are substitutionally incorporated into the honeycomb tube-shell carbon lattice.