A reversible Raman spectral change induced by light in hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon

This paper reports the reversible ordering-change in nanocrystalline silicon. Experimental data measured by micro-Raman scattering support the idea that irradiating light followed in part by an increase in temperature promotes competition between two dissimilar classes of crystallites in nanocrystalline silicon, in which one class is single crystal-like and the other is surface-like. Theoretical approximations based on the Raman shift reduction to 504 cm−1 estimate that the correlation length evaluating the average distance between defects decreases to 2.55 nm and the root mean square bond angle deviation increases to 5.96∘.