Raman spectroscopy of low-dimensional semiconductors

Abstract Raman spectroscopy is widely used to study the vibrational and structural properties of single crystals. More recently, in the fields of chemistry, physics, and engineering, interest in the properties of small objects has arisen. Small objects include microcrystalline materials, artificially layered semiconductor structures, and colloidal suspensions. The reason for this recent interest is that these objects often display unique electronic properties which may find applications in devices. Since Raman spectroscopy is a convenient nondestructive tool, it is not surprising that it has been used to characterize such objects. In this review, we consider almost exclusively results obtained with semiconductors.