Raman Scattering Applied to Materials Science

One of the most powerful techniques to extract physical and chemical information of a material is the light scattering. Opposite to x-ray scattering for instance, where an average of the sample properties is obtained, Raman scattering is a local probe which can be used to detect inhomogeneities, local strain, lack of crystallinity, anharmonicities or information on the electronic structure by means of resonant Raman scattering. In this work, we will analyze the main contributions of Raman scattering in Materials Sciences. After a brief introduction of the technique and the equipment needed for the physical measurements, we will give practical examples of Raman scattering measurements applied to a number of materials and the valuable information obtained in every example.