Curve-fitting of Raman spectra of silicate glasses

A procedure for deconvolution of complex Raman spectra of amorphous materials (e.g., silicate glass and melt) is described. The line shapes and quality of the fits are determined statistically after correction for the temperature- and frequency-dependence of the Raman intensities. In the fitting routine, intensity, half-width and position (frequency) of all bands are treated simultaneously as unconstrained variables. The number of lines fitted to a spectrum is also treated statistically by numerical minimization of the squares of the deviations between the observed and the calculated Raman envelopes and by maximizing the randomness of the residuals. It is assumed, however, that all bands are symmetric.