Deconvolution of the Raman spectrum of amorphous carbon

Abstract 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 spectrum was smoothed by a least‐squares convoluting procedure. The proper width of the spread function used in the deconvolution was determined by examining the reversibility of the deconvolution process. The deconvolution result for the Raman spectrum of amorphous carbon has a form very similar to the phonon density of states of graphite. This is taken 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 amorphous materials, such as finding the relative intensity of each peak of study the structure of the material.