Inhomogeneous size broadening of the Raman scattering spectral line in nanocrystals

Abstract

The influence of the geometry of scattering nanoparticles on the Raman scattering spectra has been considered. It is shown by the numerical simulation method that the size effect in Raman spectra of nanocrystals is accompanied by an inhomogeneous broadening of the spectral line related to the geometric shape. The additional width of the spectral line can be described by the formula ΔΓ = αs/L, where s is the particle roughness parameter that we introduced, L is the nanocrystal size, and α is the normalizing factor. This model, applied to a spherical particle, makes it possible to determine the parameter s and compare the obtained results with the experiment data. This comparison shows that the consideration of the inhomogeneous broadening improves significantly the theoretical description of Raman scattering in nanocrystals.