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The Raman scattering from acoustical phonons of silicon quantum dots in glass matrix was investigated. Two peaks that correspond to symmetric and quadrupolar spheroidal vibrations were found. A model calculation for in-and off-resonance scattering conditions was used, which considered the homogeneous broadening due to interaction with matrix and the inhomogeneous broadening due to particle size distribution. A strong dependence of the light-to-vibration coupling coefficient on the particles size was needed for fitting the Raman data. This result suggests that resonance with electronic transitions of the silicon nanoparticles is important for excitation at 514.5 nm. The size distribution obtained from the Raman data is in agreement with the results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

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We present an x-ray scattering study of the temperature-induced phase separation and Si nanocrystal formation in bulk amorphous SiOx with x≈1. X-ray Raman scattering at the Si LII,III-edge reveals a significant contribution of suboxides present in native amorphous SiO. The suboxide contribution decreases with increasing annealing temperature between 800–1200 °C pointing toward a phase separation of SiO into Si and SiO2 domains. In combination with x-ray diffraction and small angle x-ray scattering the SiO microstructure is found to be dominated by internal suboxide interfaces in the native state. For higher annealing temperatures above 900 °C growth of Si nanocrystals with rough surfaces embedded in a silicon oxide matrix can be observed.

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