Diagnostic techniques for photonic materials based on Raman and Brillouin spectroscopies

The elastic and vibrational properties of a material, bulk or planar waveguide, are studied by Brillouin and Raman spectroscopy to follow the process of nanocrystals growth in glass-ceramics. The nanoparticles cause the appearance, in the low frequency Raman spectrum, of characteristic peaks, whose position depends on the size of the crystals. At the same time, sharp crystal peaks, due to optical phonons, appear in the Raman spectra, allowing the determination of the nucleated phase, and a frequency shift of the Brillouin peaks is observed.