Optical Properties of Plastically Deformed Copper: Ellipsometry and Raman Study

In this paper, we used Raman spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry to investigate optical properties of plastically deformed copper. Chemically pure copper prepared in a sample of square cross section (10 × 10 mm2) and about 50 mm long was extremely plastically deformed with the repeated application of Equal Channel Angular Pressing. Information about microstructure with ultrafine grains is obtained by atomic force microscopy. The structure of the sample surface—the copper oxide and surface roughness over-layer—was registered by spectroscopic ellipsometry. By Raman spectroscopy, two types of lines are registered: narrow, with the width ∼7 cm−1; and wide, ∼40 cm−1, which implies that nano-sized crystal structures related to three-dimensional amorphous boundary spaces exist in the specimen.