The
indium oxide In2O3 is among the transparent
conducting oxides (TCO) appropriate for solar cells and optoelectronics.
The physical properties are based on the electron distribution on
the core levels and in the valence band of material. The knowledge
of the electron distribution on the different states is fundamental
to predict the possibilities of electron transitions. In this respect,
we adopt calculations based on the generalized gradient approximation
(GGA) and modified Becke Johnson (mBJ) to show the electron state
density. We associate to the numerical simulation the experimental
analysis techniques auger electron spectroscopy (AES), electron energy
loss spectroscopy (EELS), and UV photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS)
of great sensitivity to characterize the material surfaces. The analysis
technique AES is used for proving the chemical composition of the
In2O3 compound through the In-M45N45N45 and O-KLL signals. The energy loss peak
at 16.3 eV on the EELS spectra is related to plasmons. The energy
losses lower than 16.3 eV are related to interband transitions (ITs).
They arise from the hybridation of states (s, p, and d) of indium
and (s, p) of oxygen. The energy loss at 19 eV is mainly related to
IT transition from the d states of indium in hybridation with a slight
contribution of p and s states of indium and oxygen. The calculation
is useful to predict the states from which the interband transitions
occur. The EELS associated with UPS constitutes powerful techniques
to show the energy states of the electron distribution. The irradiation
of In2O3 by the UV photons at 320 nm leads to
the photoluminescence emission at low energy around 580 nm, appropriate
to laser applications.
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