Raman study of fluorine effects on silica with embedded SnO2 nanoparticles

Abstract Silica samples with embedded SnO 2 nanoparticles have been produced by sol–gel method with a synthesis modified by the introduction of fluorinated silicon precursors. The structural features of silica network and SnO 2 nanophase have been mapped inside the samples by means of confocal micro-Raman scattering spectroscopy. The results show that the detection of residual fluorine into the matrix as Si–F groups is accompanied by network dehydration, by intensity depletion of the D 2 peak assigned to three-member rings of coordinated tetrahedra, and by SnO 2 nanoparticles with much larger sizes than in fluorine-free material.