Effect of temperature gradients on the first-order Raman spectrum of Si

We report the results of measurements of the first-order Raman spectrum of Si under conditions of large temperature inhomogeneities generated by a critically focused cw laser beam. We find that the Stokes and anti-Stokes bands are extensively deformed due to large asymmetric broadenings which develop on the side of the low-frequency shifts. The broadenings are thus attributed to temperature gradients and are shown to be important in determining temperature distributions.