Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics, 28 (4), P. 456–463 (2025).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/spqeo28.04.456
Raman study of structural changes in Si-based materials induced by scanning with IR nspulsed laser
V.M. Dzhagan1, P.M. Lytvyn1, A.A. Korchovyi1, V.O. Yukhymchuk1, V.V. Strelchuk1, K.V. Svezhentsova1, G.M. Androsyuk1, O.V. Dubikovsky1, V.V. Dzhahan2, S.V. Kondratenko2
1V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, NAS of Ukraine, 41 Nauky Avenue, 03028 Kyiv, Ukraine
2Physics Department, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
*Corresponding author e-mail: dzhagan@isp.kiev.ua
Abstract. With the increasing availability of scanning laser systems and direct laser writing and lithography equipment, investigations of laser modification of materials regain their high relevance for both emerging and well-established semiconductors, such as Si. In this work, we have used Raman spectroscopy to study the structural modification of amorphous Si (aSi), polycrystalline Si (polySi), Si nanocrystals embedded in a SiO2 matrix (ncSiSiO2), as well as SiO2/Si/SiO2 multilayer structures, subjected to 1064 nm pulsed laser annealing (PLA) by a commercial scanning laser engraver. Raman scattering spectroscopy was the main technique for probing the induced structural changes due to its high sensitivity to phonon peak parameters, structural disorder, and strain. Comparison of the spectra measured at different excitation wavelengths allows probing of the annealed structures at various depths. For aSi, PLA induces local formation of highly crystalline Si patterns, exhibiting a threshold effect with abrupt spectral changes at small (2–3%) variations of PLA power. For SiO2/Si/SiO2 multilayers with different combinations of layer thicknesses, PLA results in relaxation to a state that no longer depends on initial Si and SiO2 layer thicknesses.
Keywords: laser annealing, amorphous silicon, polycrystalline silicon, Si nanocrystals.
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