Raman Scattering in Lonsdaleite

We present the results of our study of a polycrystalline diamond–lonsdaleite powder from the Popigai crater (Siberia) using UV micro-Raman scattering and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. By subtracting two experimental Raman spectra of diamond–lonsdaleite samples with a close ratio of the diamond and lonsdaleite fractions, when the maximum contribution to the difference spectrum is related to the difference of the lonsdaleite contributions and not to the change in the diamond band width, we have managed to obtain the spectrum of “pure” lonsdaleite. Its deconvolution has allowed us to identify all three Raman-active vibrational modes E_2g, A_1g, and E_1g whose positions agree well with the results of ab initio calculations.