Pseudopotential calculation of the discrete-continuum interference in p-Si Raman spectra

Abstract

Light-scattering lineshapes in degenerate p-type silicon due to interference between one-phonon (discrete) and inter-valence-band electronic (continuum) scattering amplitudes are investigated quantitatively. The pseudopotential method is used for calculations of both the electronic band structure and electron-phonon interaction in the computation of Raman amplitudes. Calculated lineshape intensities are found to be in good agreement with those obtained experimentally over a wide range of energy transfer, covering the interference region and beyond. This shows that the pseudopotential method with a set of a few form factors is reasonable for silicon, giving quantitatively both the electron-phonon matrix elements and the electron band structure self-consistently throughout the Brillouin zone.