Studies on the Instrumental Factors Determining Errors in the Measurements of Raman Band Profiles. Part I: Optical Factors—A Comparison of Three Different Methods

A treatment is proposed which takes into account the following error sources in Raman band shape measurements: incident beam polarization, polarization analyzer misorientation, monochromator response, and observation over a finite solid angle. Three methods generally adopted for this type of measurements are compared in terms of the amount of spurious anisotropic component which enters the isotropic profile. The pertinence zones of each method are shown. The percentage of error is expressed by well-defined quantities entering analytical equations; this allows the experimentalist to choose the more suitable method on the basis of the experimental setup.