The local structure of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-carbon films is
investigated by Raman spectroscopy. The data are analyzed over a wide
frequency range including Stokes and anti-Stokes scattering, for diffe
rent alloy compositions. Their interpretation is based on a lineshape
analysis of the spectra by using the density of vibrational states of
the different crystalline materials, and taking into account multiple-
order processes. The tendency to chemical ordering into a sp3 connecte
d network prevails in Si-rich films. The higher the carbon amount, the
less ordered are the films, due to the presence of a mixed sp2-sp3 po
lymeric phase. The results are compared with those deduced from variou
s other techniques and theoretical predictions.