Thin Film Substrates from the Raman spectroscopy point of view*

We have investigated ten standard single crystal substrates of complex oxides on the account of their applicability in the Raman spectroscopy based thin film research. In this study we suggest a spectra normalization procedure that utilises a comparison of the substrate's Raman spectra to those of well-established Raman reference materials. We demonstrate that MgO, LaGaO$_{3}$, (LaAlO$_{3}$)$_{0.3}$(Sr$_{2}$AlTaO$_{6}$)$_{0.7}$ (LSAT), DyScO$_{3}$, YAlO$_{3}$, and LaAlO$_{3}$ can be of potential use for a Raman based thin film research. At the same time TiO$_{2}$ (rutile), NdGaO$_{3}$, SrLaAlO$_{4}$, and SrTiO$_{3}$ single crystals exhibit multiple phonon modes accompanied by strong Raman background that substantially hinder the Raman based thin film experiments.