Structural and optical characteristics determined by the sputtering deposition conditions of oxide thin films

Abstract

The influence of film thickness on the structural and optical properties of silicon dioxide (SiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering on quartz substrates was investigated. The deposition conditions were optimized to achieve stoichiometric thin films. The orientation of crystallites, structure, and composition were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), while the surface topography of the samples was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optical characteristics were measured for samples with the same composition but obtained with different deposition parameters, such as increasing thickness. The optical constants (i.e., the refractive index n, the extinction coefficient k, and the absorption coefficient α) of the SiO2 and ZnO oxide films were determined from the transmission spectra recorded in the range of 190–2500 nm by using the Swanepoel method, while the energy bandgap was calculated from the absorption spectra. The influence of thickness on the structural and optical properties of the oxide films was investigated. Good optical quality and performance were noticed, which makes these thin films worthy of integration into metamaterial structures.

تحسين الخصائص البصرية لأوكسيد القصدير النانوي في بوليمر بولي فينيل الكحول الغروي المحضر بطريقة الاستئصال بالليزر

“…This might be attributable to the interaction of PVA bonds with nanomaterials and an increase in the Nano size of the nanocomposite, which then rapidly decreases as the wavelength increases 15 . After doping the sample with nanometal SnO2, the absorption was enhanced; incoming light is absorbed by free electrons 16 .…”