Confocal Raman Imaging: Applications and its underlying principles

This MIT.nano Tool Talk will cover the basics of Raman imaging and provide examples from the fields of 2D materials, semiconductors, pharmaceutical research and life sciences.

Contents

Raman imaging microscopy is a powerful and versatile tool for chemically characterizing materials. It relies on the Raman effect, in which a distinctive energy shift in photons scattered by molecules serves as a “fingerprint” that can reveal the distribution of sample components in three dimensions.

The technique is nondestructive and sensitive enough to acquire data from extremely small volumes and material concentrations. It can accelerate research in fields from nanotechnology to geology, polymers to ceramics, conventional semiconductors to novel two-dimensional (2D) materials, and more as the method’s adoption continues to gather pace.

This talk will cover the basics of Raman imaging microscopy and provide detailed examples of the following applications:

• 2D materials: Carbon nanotubes, graphene, and transitional metal dichalcogenides – Confocal Raman microscopy offers access to material characteristics such as layer number and growth defects that can influence optoelectronic properties.
• Semiconductors: Chemical and physical properties such as composition, stress, and doping – Challenging demands in terms of device quality and reliability require the comprehensive evaluation of inherent stress and crystalline properties that Raman imaging can deliver.
• Pharmaceutical research and life sciences: Modes of actions of cells, the delivery of drugs, active component identification, and determination of their distribution within pharmaceutical end products – As a nondestructive and label-free technique, confocal Raman imaging facilitates a unique understanding of cellular determinants in living cells.