First and second order Raman scattering spectroscopy of nonpolar a-plane GaN

Nonpolar a-plane [(1120)] GaN samples have been grown on r-plane [(1102)] sapphire substrates by low-pressure metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition. The room-temperature first and second order Raman scattering spectra of nonpolar a-plane GaN have been measured in surface and edge backscattering geometries. All of the phonon modes that the selection rules allow have been observed in the first order Raman spectra. The frequencies and linewidths of the active modes have been analyzed. The second order phonon modes are composed of acoustic overtones, acoustic-optical and optical-optical combination bands, and optical overtones. The corresponding assignments of second order phonon modes have been made. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Raman scattering from an individual tubular graphite cone

　

Temperature dependence of the Raman-active modes in the nonpolar a-plane GaN film

Temperature dependences of the polarized Raman scattering spectra in the backscattering configuration of the nonpolar a-plane (or [11 (2) over bar0]-oriented) GaN thin film are analyzed in the range from 100 to 570 K. The nonpolar a-plane GaN film is grown on an r-plane [or (1 (1) over bar 02)-oriented] sapphire substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The spectral features of the Raman shifts, intensities, and linewidths of the active phonons modes A(1)(TO), E-1(TO), and E-2(high) are significantly revealed, and corresponding temperature coefficients are well deduced by the empirical relationships. With increasing the measurement temperature the Raman frequencies are substantially redshifted and the linewidths gradually broaden. The compressive-strain-free temperature for the nonpolar a-plane GaN film is found to be at about 400 K. Our studies will lead to a better understanding of the fundamental physical characteristics of the nonpolar GaN film. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Pressure-induced Raman-active radial breathing mode transition in single-wall carbon nanotubes

Using classical constant-pressure molecular dynamics simulations and the force constants model, radial breathing mode (RBM) transition of single-wall carbon nanotubes under hydrostatic pressure is reported. With the pressure increased, the RBM shifts linearly toward higher frequency, and the RBM transition occurs at the same critical pressure as the structural transition. The group theory indicates that the RBMs are all Raman-active; however, due to the effect of the frequency transition and the electronic structure change for tube radial deformation, the Raman intensity of the modes becomes so weak as not to be experimentally detected, which is in agreement with a recent experiment by S. Lebedkin [Phys. Rev. B 73, 094109 (2006)]. Furthermore, the calculated RBM transition pressure is well fitted to the cube of diameter (similar to 1/d(3)).

Polarized Raman scattering studies of nonpolar a-plane GaN films grown on r-plane sapphire substrates by MOCVD

Nonpolar (1120) a-plane GaN thin films were grown on r-plane (1102) sapphire substrates by low-pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The stress characteristics of the a-plane GaN films were investigated by means of polarized Raman scattering spectra in backscattering configurations. The experimental results show that there are strong anisotropic in-plane stresses within the epitaxial a-plane GaN films by calculating the corresponding stress tensors. The temperature dependence of Raman scattering spectra was studied in the range from 100 K to 550 K. The measurements reveal that the Raman phonon frequencies decrease with increasing temperature. The temperature at which nonpolar a-plane GaN films are strain free is discussed. (c) 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Comparison between double crystals X-ray diffraction micro-Raman measurement on composition determination of high Ge content Si1_xGex layer epitaxied on Si substrate

It is important to acquire the composition of Si1-xGex layer, especially that with high Ge content, epitaxied on Si substrate. Two nondestructive examination methods, double crystals X-ray diffraction (DCXRD) and micro-Raman measurement, were introduced comparatively to determine x value in Si1-xGex: layer, which show that while the two methods are consistent with each other when x is low, the results obtained from double crystals X-ray diffraction are not credible due to the large strain relaxation occurring in Si1-xGex layers when Ge content is higher than about 20%. Micro-Raman measurement is more appropriate for determining high Ge content than DCXRD.

Raman scattering detection of stacking faults in free-standing cubic-SiC epilayer

We report on stacking fault (SF) detection in free-standing cubic-SiC epilayer by the Raman measurements. The epilayer with enhanced SFs is heteroepitaxially grown by low pressure chemical vapour deposition on a Si(100) substrate and is released in KOH solution by micromechanical manufacture, on which the Raman measurements are performed in a back scattering geometry. The TO line of the Raman spectra is considerably broadened and distorted. We discuss the influence of SFs on the intensity profiles of TO mode by comparing our experimental data with the simulated results based on the Raman bond polarizability (BP) model in the framework of linear-chain concept. Good agreement with respect to the linewidth and disorder-induced peak shift is found by assuming the mean distance of the SFs to be 11 angstrom in the BP model.

Raman scattering study on vibrational modes in Ga1-xMnxN prepared by Mn-ion implantation

Raman scattering measurements have been carried out on ferromagnetic semiconductor Ga1-xMnxN prepared by Mn-ion implantation and post annealing. The Raman results obtained from the annealed and un-annealed Ga1-xMnxN demonstrate that crystalline quality has been improved in Ga1-xMnxN after annealing. Some new vibrational modes in addition to GaN-like modes are found in the Raman spectra measured from the Ga1-xMnxN where the GaN-like modes are found to be shifted in the higher frequency side than those measured from the bulk GaN. A new vibrational mode observed is assigned to MnN-like mode. Other new phonon modes observed are assigned to disorder-activated modes and Mn-related vibrational modes caused by Mn-ion implantation and post-annealing. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study on Raman spectra of GaMnAs

Raman spectra of diluted magnetic semiconductor GaMnAs alloy were reported. The coupled plamon-LO-phonon ( CPLP) mode has LO-like polarization properties. With increasing Mn concentration, the CPLP mode shifts to low frequency. The hole density in the alloy was determined from the ratio of the intensity of the CPLP mode to that of the unscreened LO mode in the depletion layer. The hole density increases with the increase of the Mn composition. The Raman spectra of GaMnAs alloy were measured at different temperature. It is confirmed that the hole density in the alloy increases with the increase of the temperature.

Raman evidence for atomic correlation between the two constituent tubes in double-walled carbon nanotubes

Four well-resolved peaks with very narrow linewidths were found in the D-band and G'-band features of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs). This fact implies the occurrence of additional van Hove singularities (vHSs) in the joint density of states (JDOS) of DWNTs, which is consistent with theoretical calculations. According to their peak frequencies and theoretical analysis, the two outer peaks can be deduced to originate from a strong coupling between the two constituent tubes of commensurate DWNTs and the two inner peaks were curvature-related and assigned to originate from the two tubes with a weak coupling. This observation and elucidation constitute the first Raman evidence for atomic correlation and the resulting electronic structure change of the two constituent tubes in DWNTs. This result opens the possibility of predicting and modifying the electronic properties of DWNTs for their electronic applications.

Study on the Raman spectra of GaP nanorods synthesized within carbon nanotube templates

The Raman spectra of GaP nanorods grown in carbon nanotube templates have been reported. The red shifts of the TO and LO modes were observed due to phonon confinement effect in GaP nanorods. The measured red shifts range from 2 to 10cm(-1) depending on the size of the measured nanorods. It has been found that the polarization properties, which cannot be well explained by the selection rules of single nanorod, result from the direction disorder of nanorods in the measured area. The more the disorder is, the weaker the directionality of polarization properties is. The decrease of the Raman frequency of the TO and LO mode of the nanorods with the increasing power of the exciting laser suggests that the heating effect of the nanorods is far stronger than the bulk material. In addition, the saturation and then decrease of the Raman intensity with the increasing laser power indicate the rapid increase of the defects in the nanorods exposed to a strong exciting laser.

Structural properties and Raman measurement of AlN films grown on Si (111) by NH3-GSMBE

Epitaxial growth of AlN has been performed by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) with ammonia. The structural properties of materials were studied by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD and TEM diffraction pattern confirm the AlN is single crystalline 2H-polytype with the epitaxial relationship of (0001)AlNparallel to(111)Si, [11 (2) over bar0](AlN)parallel to[110](Si), [10 (1) over bar0](AlN)parallel to[11 (2) over bar](Si). Micro-Raman scattering measurement shows that the E-2 (high) and A(1) (LO) phonon mode shift 9 cm(-1) toward the low frequency, which shows the existence of large tensile strain in the AlN films. Furthermore, the appearance of forbidden A, (TO) mode and its anomalous shift toward high frequency was found and explained. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Micro-Raman study on hydrogenated protocrystalline silicon films

Good quality hydrogenated protocrystalline silicon films were successfully prepared by radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with various hydrogen dilution ratios (R = ([H-2]/[SiH4]) from 10 to 100). The photosensitivity of the films is up to 10(6) under the light intensity of 50mW.cm(-2). The microstructure of the films was studied by micro-region Raman scattering spectra at room temperature. The deconvolution of the Raman spectra by Gaussion functions shows that the films deposited under low hydrogen dilution ratios (R < 33) exhibit typical amorphous properties, while the films deposited under high hydrogen dilution ratios (R > 50) possess a diphasic structure, with increasing crystalline volume fraction with R. The size of the crystallites in the diphasic films is about 2.4 mm, which was deduced from the phonon confinement model. The intermediate range order of the silicon film increases with increasing hydrogen dilution ratio.

Raman study of low-temperature-grown Al0.29Ga0.71As/GaAs photorefractive materials

We report on the observation of resonant Raman scattering in low-temperature-grown AlGaAs/GaAs structure. Two kinds of excitation lights, 632.8 and 488 nm laser lines, were used to detect scattering signal from different regions based on different penetration depths. Under the outgoing resonant condition, up to fourth-order resonant Raman peaks were observed in the low-temperature-grown AlGaAs alloy, owing to a broad exciton luminescence in low-temperature-grown AlGaAs alloy induced by intrinsic defects and As cluster after post-annealing. These resonant peaks were assigned according to their fundamental modes. Among the resonant peaks, besides the overtones of the GaAs- or AlAs-like mode, there exist combination bands of these two kinds of modes. In addition, a weak scattering peak similar to the bulk GaAs longitudinal optical mode was observed in low-temperature Raman experiments. We consider the weak signal correlated with GaAs clusters appearing in AlGaAs alloys. The accumulation of GaAs in AlGaAs alloys was enhanced after annealing at high temperatures. A detailed study of the dependence of vibration modes on measuring temperature and post-annealing conditions is given also. In light of our experiments, it is suggested that a Raman scattering experiment is a sensitive microscopic probe of local disorder and, especially performed at low temperature, is a superior method in detecting and analyzing the weak interaction between phonons and electrons.

Raman spectra of SiC nanorods with different excitation wavelengths

With increasing excitation wavelength from 514 to 782 mn, a significant difference in the Raman spectra of SIC nanorods was observed as compared to bulk material. The intensity ratio of the LO mode to that of the IF mode increases with the excitation wavelength increasing. This has been identified as resonant Raman scattering caused by Frohlich interaction.