Resonant Raman scattering is highly desired for material study. It is experimentally not easy to reach the resonant scattering interaction between an incident photon and a material due to the limited available laser wavelengths. In this study, by employing silver plasmonic nanoparticles deposited on glass substrate and by in situ adjusting the cadmium sulfide (CdS) band gap through heat treatment, resonant Raman scattering condition (laser wavelength of 514.5 nm) was fully achieved in nanocrystalline CdS thin films. The dramatically enhanced Raman scattering allowed us to in situ monitor the phase transition that occurred during the heat treatment and to quantitatively characterize the fraction of the zincblende (cubic) CdS in the main base of wurtzite (hexagonal) CdS. Raman multi‐phonon and the corresponding high‐order scattering modes were observed due to the much enhanced surface nanoplasmonic electric field. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A series of alluaudite Na2 Fe3-x Mnx (PO4 )3 microcompounds, which self-assembled from primary nanorods, were prepared successfully through a solvothermal method. As a promising candidate cathode for sodium-ion batteries, it is necessary to obtain a deeper understanding of the relationship between the structure and physicochemical properties of these materials. The local electronic and geometric environments were systematically investigated, for the first time, by using a combination of soft/hard X-ray absorption, IR, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The results show that the electrochemical performance is not only associated with morphology, but also with the electronic and crystalline structure. With the introduction of manganese into the lattice, the long-range order maintains the isostructural framework and the lattice parameters expand as expected. However, for short-range order, PO4 tetrahedra and MO6 octahedra (M=Fe and Mn) become more severely distorted as a function of Mn concentration. Meanwhile, larger MnO6 octahedra will compress the space of FeO6 octahedra, which will result in stronger core/electron-electron interactions for Fe, as characterized by hard/soft X-ray absorption spectra. These slight changes in the electronic and local structures lead to different electrochemical performances with changes to the manganese content. Moreover, other physicochemical properties, such as magnetic behavior, are also confirmed to be correlated with these different electron interactions and local geometric environments.

Broad and low‐intensity Raman peaks are usually expected from nanocrystalline thin semiconductor films. The inherently weak Raman scattering phenomenon can be further deteriorated by unwanted background signals preventing the successful Raman analysis of an analyte. In this study, the resonant and surface‐enhanced Raman scattering techniques were combined to detect CuO and Cu2O phases in the partially oxidized nanocrystalline copper film that were otherwise undetectable. Heat treatment resulted in increased oxidation and phase transition from multiphase to single CuO phase that was in situ observed by temperature‐dependent Raman measurements. Detailed understanding of the film properties and substrate interaction was made by using several characterization techniques.