RAMAN-SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY OF SILICON NANOPOWDERS

Vibrational properties of silicon nanopowders are discussed with refer ence to Raman spectroscopic measurements. The powders were produced in a low pressure rf plasma from the cluster induced agglomeration of po sitive ions formed during the dissociation of silane. Influence of the rmal treatment and the crystallization phenomena of the powder were st udied. Raman spectroscopic measurements reveal size quantization effec ts for the particles as well as the existence of partially ordered reg ions in the apparently amorphous primary particles. The crystalline an d amorphous volume fraction in the material were calculated from the r elative spectral intensities. The results obtained in these experiment s are consistent with the observations from recent high resolution tra nsmission electron microscopy studies of these powders.