Revealing the local crystallinity of single silicon core-shell nanowires using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy is combined with polarization angle-resolved spectroscopy to investigate the nanometer-scale structural properties of core-shell silicon nanowires (crystalline Si core and amorphous Si shell), which were synthesized by platinum-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid growth and silicon overcoating by thermal chemical vapor deposition. Local changes in the fraction of crystallinity in these silicon nanowires are characterized at an optical resolution of about 300 nm. Furthermore, we are able to resolve the variations in the intensity ratios of the Raman peaks of crystalline Si and amorphous Si by applying tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, at sample positions being 8 nm apart.

Local Observation of Phase Segregation in Mixed-Halide Perovskite.

Mixed-halide perovskites have emerged as promising materials for optoelectronics due to their tunable band gap in the entire visible region. A challenge remains, however, in the photoinduced phase segregation, narrowing the band gap of mixed-halide perovskites under illumination thus restricting applications. Here, we use a combination of spatially resolved and bulk measurements to give an in-depth insight into this important yet unclear phenomenon.