A Jobin Yvon-Spex (HR640) monochromator with a notch filter (514·5 nm) and Ar⁺ ion laser has been used to set up a low cost laser Raman spectrometer. The selection and setup of the various optical components used in the present work has been solely carried out in our laboratory. The calibration of the monochromator was established from the studies of various standard mercury lines and the obtained data fitted with the reported data. Raman signals have been recorded for a number of samples e.g. diamond, ruby, carbon tetrachloride (CCI₄), benzene (C₆H₆) and ethanol (C₂H₅OH). The obtained results are found to be in excellent agreement with the reported values for these materials in the literature.

In the present study, a novel method involving nitrogen plasma annealing has been reported for preparing InN nanoparticle/nanorod structures and for improving the properties of InN nanoparticle layers. Plasma annealed structures have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy techniques. InN nanoparticle layers have been prepared using activated reactive evaporation set up. It has been observed that there is a remarkable improvement in the conductivity and crystallinity of InN nanoparticle layers on annealing in nitrogen plasma. This has been attributed to the increase in the nitrogen content of the samples. Experiments involving plasma annealing of In nanorods deposited oxide template has also been carried out. It was found that on plasma treatment In nanorods get converted to mixed phase InN nanorods with hexagonal and cubic fractions.