High pressure Raman scattering of silicon nanowires

We study the high pressure response, up to 8 GPa, of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with ～ 15 nm diameter, by Raman spectroscopy. The first order Raman peak shows a superlinear trend, more pronounced compared to bulk Si. Combining transmission electron microscopy and Raman measurements we estimate the SiNWs' bulk modulus and the Grüneisen parameters. We detect an increase of Raman linewidth at ～ 4 GPa, and assign it to pressure induced activation of a decay process into LO and TA phonons. This pressure is smaller compared to the ～ 7 GPa reported for bulk Si. We do not observe evidence of phase transitions, such as discontinuities or change in the pressure slopes, in the investigated pressure range.