Raman Imaging of Micro- and Nano-Structured Materials

Abstract

Raman microscopy has emerged as a powerful technique to characterize anisotropic materials with a submicrometer resolution. The use of polarized light allows one to get precise information about the local organization of the relevant molecular groups through the determination of the most probable distribution function. Such a polarized analysis can be conducted under a confocal microscope but caution must be considered because of the use of high numerical aperture objectives. The molecular orientation can be effectively correlated with the topography of the sample when atomic force microscopy experiments are conducted on the same object. In this chapter, we present 2D and 3D Raman imaging results that have been conducted on mesostructured polymer surfaces and on functionalized metallic surfaces that can serve as SERS platforms. In addition, we compare the results obtained on semiconductor nanowires in confocal Raman conditions or benefiting from local tip enhancement.