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We demonstrate a non-monotonic evolution of in-plane thermal conductivity of large-area hexagonal boron nitride films with thickness. Wrinkles and defects/impurities are present in these films. Raman spectroscopy, an optothermal non-contact technique, is employed to probe the temperature and laser power dependence property of the Raman active E2ghigh phonon mode, which, in turn, is used to estimate the rise in the temperature of the films under different laser powers. As the conventional Fourier law of heat diffusion cannot be directly employed analytically to evaluate the thermal conductivity of these films with defects and wrinkles, finite-element modeling is used instead. In the model, average heat resistance is used to incorporate an overall near-surface defect structure, and Voronoi cells with contact resistance at the cell boundaries are constructed to mimic the wrinkled domains. The effective in-plane thermal conductivity is estimated to be 87, 55, and 117 W/m K for the 2, 10, and 30 nm-thick films, respectively. We also present a quantitative estimation of the thermal resistance by defects and wrinkles individually to the heat flow. Our study reveals that the defects/impurities render a much higher resistance to heat transfer in the films than wrinkles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ge clusters are grown on Si substrate at room temperature (Ge-RT) and also at liquid nitrogen temperature (Ge-LNT) by cluster evaporation technique. These clusters show blue luminescence. Raman measurement demonstrates the increase in strain with annealing in diffused disordered Si at the interface between Ge-LNT clusters and Si substrate. This manifests in strain-relaxation in the clusters as observed by Photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The decrease in PL intensity for Ge-RT with annealing has been attributed to reduction in surface oxide species, which is supported by Raman spectroscopic measurements. The objective of the paper is to understand the effect of thermal annealing on both interfacial strain and interdiffusion of elemental Si at the interface, together with luminescence characteristics of the clusters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We report electron transmission and Raman spectroscopy study of InAs nanowires. We demonstrate that the temperature dependent behavior of optical phonon energies can be used to determine the relative wurtzite fraction in the InAs nanowires. Furthermore, we propose that the interfacial strain between zincblende and wurtzite phases along the length of the wires manifests in the temperature-evolution of the phonon linewidths. From these studies, temperature-dependent Raman measurements emerge as a non-invasive method to study polytypism in such nanowires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wafer-scale thin films of hexagonal boron nitride have exceptional thermal and mechanical properties, which harness the potential use of these materials in two-dimensional electronic, device applications. Along with unavoidable defects, grains, and wrinkles, which develop during the growth process, underlying substrates influence the physical and mechanical properties of these films. Understanding the interactions of these large-scale films with different substrates is, thus, important for the implementation of this 2D system in device fabrication. MOVPE-grown 2 and 30 nm hBN/sapphire films of size 2 in. diameter are delaminated chemically and transferred on quartz, SiO2/Si, and sapphire substrates. The structural characteristics of these films are investigated by employing Raman spectroscopy. Our results suggest that not only the roughness but also the height modulation at the surface of the substrates play a pivotal role in determining substrate-mediated mechanical strain inhomogeneity in these films. The statistical analysis of the spectral parameters provides us with the overall characteristics of the films. Furthermore, a Stark difference in the thermal evolution of strain in these films depending on substrate materials is observed. It has been demonstrated that not only the differential thermal expansion coefficient of the substrates and the films, but also slippage of the latter during the thermal treatment determines the net strain in the films. The role of the slippage is significantly higher in 2 nm films than in 30 nm films. We believe that the observations provide crucial information on the structural characteristics of the substrate-coupled wafer-scale hBN films for their future use in technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correlations between properties of hydrogenated diamondlike carbon films and their Raman spectra have been investigated. The films are prepared by plasma deposition technique, keeping different hydrogen to methane ratios during the growth process. The hydrogen concentration, sp3 content, hardness, and optical Tauc gap of the materials have been estimated from a detailed analysis of their Raman spectra. We have also measured the same parameters of the films by using other commonly used techniques, such as sp3 content in films by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, their Tauc gap by ellipsometric measurements, and hardness by microhardness testing. The reasons for the mismatch between the characteristics of the films, as obtained by Raman measurements and by the above mentioned techniques, have been discussed. We emphasize on the importance of the visible Raman spectroscopy in reliably predicting the above key properties of diamondlike carbon films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a mapping of the residual strain along the axis of InAs/InSb heterostructured nanowires. Using confocal Raman measurements, we observe a gradual shift in the transverse optical phonon mode along the axis of these nanowires. We attribute the observed shift to a residual strain arising from the InAs/InSb lattice mismatch. We find that the strain is maximum at the interface and then monotonically relaxes towards the tip of the nanowires. We also analyze the crystal structure of the InSb segment through selected area electron diffraction measurements and electron diffraction tomography on individual nanowires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern materials science requires efficient processing and characterization techniques for low dimensional systems. Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy are important nondestructive tools which provide much information about such systems. Commercial Raman spectrometers are expensive. We discuss a less expensive apparatus with assembled collection optics. Studies of Ge nanoparticles, porous silicon (nanowire), carbon nanotubes, and two-dimensional InGaAs quantum layers demonstrate that this apparatus is useful for teaching and research on nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raman spectroscopy and Hall measurements have been carried out to investigate the differences in near-surface charge carrier modulation in high energy (~100 MeV) silicon ion (Si8+) and oxygen ion (O7+) irradiated n-GaAs. In the case of O ion irradiation, the observed decrease in carrier concentration with increase in ion fluence could be explained in the view of charge compensation by possible point defect trap centers, which can form because of elastic collisions of high energy ions with the target nuclei. In Si irradiated n-GaAs one would expect the carrier compensation to occur at a fluence of 2.5 × 1013 ions/cm2, if the same mechanism of acceptor state formation, as in case of O irradiation, is considered. However, we observe the charge compensation in this system at a fluence of 5 × 1012 ions/cm2. We discuss the role of the complex defect states, which are formed because of the interaction of the primary point defects, in determining carrier concentration in a Si irradiated n-GaAs wafer. The above results are combined with the reported data from the literature for high energy silver ion irradiated n-GaAs, in order to illustrate the effect of both electronic and nuclear energy loss on trap creation and charge compensation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a comprehensive study on damage evolution in undoped InP due to 100 MeV silver (Ag 7+ ) ion irradiation. Raman and Rutherford back scattering channeling (c-RBS) measurements are employed to bring out two different aspects of disorder in the system. While Raman spectroscopy revealed a monotonic increase in sub-surface strain due to ion irradiation, the later detected heavy damage in the wafer at high fluences. Furthermore, we have estimated the lattice temperature under above irradiation conditions in InP using a unified thermal spike model. The model includes both inelastic thermal spike and elastic collision spike along with the effect of latent heat. This model explains the observed damage evolution of the target. Above experimental techniques in conjunction with the simulation model provides a qualitative explanation of the damage accumulation leading to structural modification in the Ag ion-irradiated InP wafer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Resonance Raman spectroscopy is employed for diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy. • Statistical analysis of spectral data holds promise in early detection of the disease. • The study endorses carotenoid level in human serum as a biomarker for the pathosis. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common health concern. Unfortunately, the metabolic pathway causing DR is yet to be understood. The carotenoid level in the human body is known to protect the health of the eyes. In this work, resonance Raman spectroscopy and multivariate analysis of the spectral data of human serum are reported as next-generation spectropathologic tools to detect retinal degeneration efficiently. The proposed technique shows promise by endorsing ocular carotenoids as a critical biomarker for such pathosis. Furthermore, the multivariate analysis of the spectral data distinguishes between two different stages of the disease. The machine learning algorithm is used to estimate a significant accuracy of 94% of the proposed model for the classification. As the carotenoid level can be controlled by dietary intake, we believe that the reported results also indicate a therapeutic role of the same in DR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we report the structural phase transitions in Bi4 V2 O11 as observed from temperature-dependent Raman scattering and X-ray diffraction measurements. Four different types of highly disordered coordination polyhedra around the vanadium atoms with large dispersion of V-O bond lengths are observed in Bi4 V2 O11 at ambient temperature. The observed V-O bond lengths could be grouped into two categories, viz. shorter <1.7 Å and longer >1.7 Å. The Raman modes of Bi4 V2 O11 could be assigned to vibration of these bonds and V-O-V linkages. We could correlate the difference in degree of anharmonicity of the phonon modes with temperature to differences in V-O bond strength. The local structure of vanadium-oxygen network in Bi4 V1.8 Cu0.2 O10.7 was also obtained by similar studies. The effect of highly disordered anion sublattice in the doped compound is reflected in the broadening of the Raman modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]