Raman spectroscopy of nanostructured silicon fabricated by metal-assisted chemical etching

In this work, we present a detailed experimental Raman investigation of nanostructured silicon films prepared by metal-assisted chemical etching with different nanocrystal sizes and structures. Interpretation of observed one and two-phonon Raman peaks are presented. First-order Raman peak has a small redshift and broadening. This phenomenon is analyzed in the framework of the phonon confinement model. Second-order Raman peaks were found to be shifted and broadened in comparison to those in the bulk silicon. The peak shift and broadening of two-phonon Raman scattering relates to phonon confinement and disorder. A broad Raman peak between 900-1100 cm(-1) corresponds to superposition of three transverse optical phonons similar to 2TO (X), 2TO (W) and 2TO (L). Influence of excitation wavelength on intensity redistribution of two-phonon Raman scattering components (2TO) is demonstrated and preliminary theoretical explanation of this observation is presented.