Re-examination of the SiGe Raman spectra: Percolation/one-dimensional-cluster scheme and ab initio calculations

We report on the detailed assignment of various features observed in the Raman spectra of SiGe alloys along the linear chain approximation (LCA), as achieved based on remarkable intensity interplays with composition between such neighboring features known from the literature but which so far have not been fully exploited. Such an assignment is independently supported by ab initio calculation of the frequencies of bond-stretching modes taking place in different local environments, which we define at one dimension (1D) for consistency with the LCA. Fair contour modeling of the SiGe Raman spectra is eventually obtained via a so-called 1D-cluster version of the phenomenological (LCA-based) percolation scheme, as originally developed for zincblende alloys, after ab initio calibration of the intrinsic Si-Si, Si-Ge, and Ge-Ge Raman efficiencies. The 1D-cluster scheme introduces a seven-oscillator [1 x (Ge-Ge), 4 x (Si-Ge), 2 x (Si-Si)] Raman behavior for SiGe, which considerably deviates from the currently accepted six-oscillator [1 x (Ge-Ge), 1 x (Si-Ge), 4 x (Si- Si)] behavior. Different numbers of Raman modes per bond are interpreted as different sensitivities to the local environment of Ge-Ge (insensitive), Si-Si (sensitive to first neighbors), and Si- Ge (sensitive to second neighbors) bond stretching. The as-obtained SiGe 1D-cluster/percolation scheme is also compared with the current version for zincblende alloys, using GaAsP as a natural reference. A marked deviation is concerned with an inversion of the like phonon branches in each multiplet. This is attributed either to the considerable Si and Ge phonon dispersions (Si-Si doublet) or to a basic difference in the lattice relaxations of diamond and zincblende alloys (Si-Ge multiplet). The SiGe vs GaAsP comparison is supported by ab initio calculation of the local lattice relaxation/dynamics related to prototype impurity motifs that are directly transposable to the two crystal structures.