The minerals used in this study were supplied by the Australian Museum (ASM). The minerals have been characterized by both X-ray diffraction (XRD) and by chemical analysis using ICP-AES (inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy) techniques.

The following samples were used: (a) sample ASM-D49056 boléite from the Amelia Mine, Santa Rosalia, Baja, California, Mexico; (b) sample ASM-D 27575 cumengéite, Beleo, Baja California, Mexico; (c) sample ASM D36845 diaboléite from Mannoth mine, Tiger, Arizona, USA; and (d) sample ASM D191881 phosgenite from Consols mine, Broken Hill, South Australia.

Crystals of the minerals were placed and orientated on a polished metal surface on the stage of an Olympus BHSM microscope, which is equipped with 10 × and 50 × objectives. The microscope is part of a Renishaw 1000 Raman microscope system, which also includes a monochromator, a filter system and a Charge Coupled Device (CCD). Raman spectra were excited by a Spectra-Physics model 127 He-Ne laser (633 nm) at a resolution of 2 cm−1 in the range between 100 and 4000 cm−1. Repeated acquisition using the highest magnification was accumulated to improve the signal to noise ratio in the spectra. Spectra were calibrated using the 520.5 cm−1 line of a silicon wafer.

Infrared (IR) spectra were obtained using a Nicolet Nexus 870 FTIR spectrometer with a smart endurance single bounce diamond ATR cell. Spectra over the 4000 to 525 cm−1 range were obtained by the co-addition of 64 scans with a resolution of 4 cm−1 and a mirror velocity of 0.6329 cm/s.

Spectroscopic manipulation such as baseline adjustment, smoothing and normalization were performed using the Spectracalc software package GRAMS (Galactic Industries Corporation, New Hampshire, USA). Band component analysis was undertaken using the Jandel ‘Peakfit’ software package, which enabled the type of fitting function to be selected and allows specific parameters to be fixed or varied accordingly. Band fitting was done using a Gauss-Lorentz cross-product function with the minimum number of component bands used for the fitting process. The Gauss-Lorentz ratio was maintained at values >0.7 and fitting was undertaken until reproducible results were obtained with squared correlations of r2 >0.995.

Figure 1 is Raman spectra of the hydroxyl-stretching region of (a) phosgenite, (b) boléite, (c) diaboléite and (d) cumengéite.  Figure 2 shows band component analysis of the hydroxyl-stretching region of the Raman spectrum of (a) diaboléite and (b) cumengéite. Figure 3 is Raman spectra of the 600–1000 cm−1 region of (a) boléite, (b) diaboléite and (c) cumengéite.  Figure 4 is Raman spectra of the carbonate region of phosgenite. Figure 5 is Raman spectra of the 100–500 cm−1 region of (a) phosgenite, (b) boléite, (c) diaboléite and (d) cumengéite.