Silicon Thin Films and Nanostructures

Raman spectroscopy is commonly used to study crystalline volume fraction and internal stress of the silicon thin film.

a) Atomic force microscopy image of mixed phase microcrystalline silicon thin film (field of view 6 x 6 m2).

b) Raman map of µc-Si:H at the same place.
Integrated intensity of the crystalline silicon band (500 - 535 cm-1) is plotted in the picture.

We also explore Raman sensitivity to crystallographic orientation of crystals [5]: resolution and sensitivity is high enough to distinguish individual large silicon grains!