Raman study of silicon telluride nanoplates and their degradation

Evan Hathaway; Jiyang Chen; Roberto Gonzalez-Rodriguez; Yuankun Lin; Jingbiao Cui

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ac5c13

Raman study of silicon telluride nanoplates and their degradation

Nanotechnology. 2022 Apr 7;33(26). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac5c13.

Authors

Evan Hathaway¹, Jiyang Chen², Roberto Gonzalez-Rodriguez¹, Yuankun Lin¹, Jingbiao Cui¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, United States of America.
² Department of Physics and Material Science, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, United States of America.

PMID: 35263725
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac5c13

Abstract

Silicon telluride (Si₂Te₃) has emerged as one of the many contenders for 2D materials ideal for the fabrication of atomically thin devices. Despite the progress which has been made in the electric and optical properties of silicon telluride, much work is still needed to better understand this material. We report here on the Raman study of Si₂Te₃degradation under both annealing andin situheating with a laser. Both processes caused pristine Si₂Te₃to degrade into tellurium and silicon oxide in air in the absence of a protective coating. A previously unreported Raman peak at ∼140 cm^-1was observed from the degraded samples and is found to be associated with pure tellurium. This peak was previously unresolved with the peak at 144 cm^-1for pristine Si₂Te₃in the literature and has been erroneously assigned as a signature Raman peak of pure Si₂Te₃, which has caused incorrect interpretations of experimental data. Our study has led to a fundamental understanding of the Raman peaks in Si₂Te₃, and helps resolve the inconsistent issues in the literature. This study is not only important for fundamental understanding but also vital for material characterization and applications.

Keywords: Raman spectroscopy; degradation; silicon telluride.