Nano-Raman spectroscopy of silicon surfaces

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the use of nano-Raman spectroscopy to analyze silicon surface chemistry with high sensitivity, revealing surface treatment effects through vibrational mode enhancements.

Contribution

It introduces the application of near-field enhanced nano-Raman spectroscopy for detailed silicon surface chemical analysis.

Findings

Enhanced vibrational modes of Si-H, F-Si-H, B-O-Si observed

No enhancement of silicon phononic features

Effective probing of local surface chemistry

Abstract

Near-field enhanced, nano-Raman spectroscopy has been successfully used to probe the surface chemistry of silicon prepared using standard wafer cleaning and processing techniques. The results demonstrate the utility of this measurement for probing the local surface chemical nano-environment with very high sensitivity. Enhancements were observed for the vibrational (stretching) modes of Si-H, F-Si-H and possibly also B-O-Si consistent with the surface treatments applied. The nano-probes did not enhance the phononic features of the silicon substrate.