Shift-excitation Raman difference spectroscopy-difference deconvolution method for the luminescence background rejection from Raman spectra of solid samples.

The feasibility of the shift-excitation Raman difference spectroscopy-difference deconvolution (SERDS-DDM) method for fluorescence suppression from Raman spectra of solid samples is discussed. For SERDS measurements a tunable diode laser source with an emission band centered at 684 nm is coupled to a conventional micro-Raman apparatus and a monochromator device is used for checking the excitation frequency stability. The shifted Raman spectra are then mathematically treated and a deconvolution procedure is used to reconstruct the Raman spectrum devoid of fluorescence. Two different cases are presented. In the first one, fluorescence is intrinsic to the sample and the Raman spectrum of cinnabar pigment is finally reconstructed. In the second, the presence of an external luminescence background in the spectrum of a pure sulfur crystal is considered. The SERDS-DDM reconstructed spectra are compared with spectra obtained via multi-point baseline subtraction and a significant improvement in the detection of weak bands is demonstrated. Practical insights for the application of this method are presented as well.