Raman spectroscopy of pseudomorphic Si0.989C0.011/Si superlattices

Raman spectroscopy is used here to study pseudomorphic Si_0.989C_0.011/Si superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The high crystalline quality of the samples was tested by a high resolution X-ray diffraction experiment. The lineshape of the LO Si-Si peak shows an asymmetry, which correlates with the increase of the alloy layer width. The Raman spectra show three additional peaks in the high energy side above the LO mode of Si. One of them is due to the local vibration of the C substitutional atoms, and the other two can be attributed to the formation of short range order with C atoms occupying second and third nearest-neighbor places. On the low energy side of the LO Si-Si mode, we have observed two other peaks associated with the relaxation of the Si atoms around the substitutional C. Although the X-ray experiments show clear evidence of superperiodicity, no indication of the superlattice formation could be observed in the parallel polarized Raman spectra, where the folded acoustic modes are allowed.