Raman spectra of As4S4 polymorphs: Structural implications for amorphous As2S3 films

Raman-scattering spectra of α-As₄S₄ and β-As₄S₄ have been determined at 300 and 10 K. Although similar in overall aspect, the spectral signatures of the two polymorphs are clearly distinct. We have made a careful comparison of these first-order crystal line spectra to the sharp features reported in the Raman spectra of freshly-deposited films of amorphous As₂S₃. Prior proposals for the presence of As₄S₄ molecules in the unannealed films are supported by these comparisons, but recent contentions that actual microcrystals of β-As₄S₄ are present in the as-deposited material are clearly contradicted by the absence of any of the lattice-phonon lines which are prominent in the crystals at frequencies below 70 cm^-1.