Raman Spectroscopic Study of Silicon Nanopowders

Vibrational properties of silicon nanopowders are discussed with reference to Raman spectroscopic measurements. The powders were produced in a low pressure rf plasma from the cluster induced agglomeration of positive ions formed during the dissociation of silane. Influence of thermal treatment and the crystallization phenomena of the powder were studied. Raman spectroscopic measurements reveal size quantization effects for the particles as well as the existence of partially ordered regions in the apparently amorphous primary particles. The crystalline and amorphous volume fraction in the material were calculated from the relative spectraI intensities. The results obtained in these experiments are consistent with the observations from recent high resolution transmission electron microscopy studies of these powders