Raman spectroscopy is often used to study the structure of carbon materials, including activated carbon. The two broad peaks you're seeing, known as the G and D bands, are common features in the Raman spectra of carbon-based materials. They provide information about the graphitic and disordered structures in the material.

In other words, the G-band represents the graphitic (or ordered) structures in the carbon, while the D-band represents the disordered or defective structures. The intensity and width of these bands, as well as the ratio of their intensities (often denoted I(D)/I(G)), can provide information about the degree of graphitization or disorder in the carbon material.

If your spectra for activated carbons show broad G and D peaks, this could be due to a high level of disorder in the carbon structure, which might be expected for activated carbon because the activation process typically introduces a high level of porosity and structural disorder into the carbon.

Remember that interpreting Raman spectra can be complex and may require comparison with other characterization methods or with spectra from reference materials. Also, the specifics can depend on the details of how the activated carbon was prepared, as different preparation methods can result in different types of carbon structures.

Your Raman spectrum looks quite peculiar, as if the "3 peaks" you see, just consist of a single pixel with counts, while everything else is showing zero counts.

It is difficult to find a solution from afar. I have a few thoughts, to share.

How does your data look in table form. Is there really "zero" counts everywhere, because you do not show any axis labeling? If there are actually some counts everywhere, these high peaks might be just cosmic rays, which hit the detector during measuring and mess up your Intensity scale. Your spectrum might be there, but you need to rescale and delete these signals.

If there is no plotting issue, i.e. your dataset was plotted correctly, then my guess would be that there is some issue with the experimental setup or the experiment itself.

Do you have some form of calibration or reference sample, which you (or a colleague) have measure before or after measuring your graphene-type sample? Many people use standard [100] silicon waferes, as they show on strong, relatively narrow peak, as well as some 2-phonon-spectrum structure, which could act as a good reference.

It is hard to guess a solution without knowing more. the problem could be using wrong settings (e.g. combination of gratings and camera in your spectrometer), to a wrongly aligned setup.

My thoughts,

Michael

EDIT: Corrected some typos.

I agree with Michael Rüsing that the features you observe do not really look like typical Raman signals and could likely be caused by cosmic rays (or maybe even so-called "hot pixels" of your detector).

Is the spectrum you have shown just a single acquisition or the average of multiple spectra recorded subsequently? If the sharp features are due to cosmic rays, then these should not be identical in subsequent recordings of spectra. However, if they originate from hot pixels of your detector, these features will always appear. In the latter case you could try to record a blank spectrum, i.e. recorded with the excitation laser being turned off, and then subtract it from the spectra recorded on your sample.

Have you tried measuring some "standard" substances like polystyrene (e.g. in the form of a plastic ruler) or silicon? How does the recorded spectrum look in these cases?

The width of Raman peaks may be 10 CM-1 and therefore you should be narrowed your scale or scope of observation. Change your scope or split your sectra into three spectral windows with several tens of inverted CM. For example, 300-400 CM-1, 1000-1050 CM-1, 1300-1450 cm-1.