The influence of the reaction gas composition during the DC magnetron sputtering process on the structural, chemical and optical properties of Ce-oxide thin films was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed that all thin films exhibited a polycrystalline character with cubic fluorite structure for cerium dioxide. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses revealed that cerium is present in two oxidation states, namely as CeO2 and Ce2O3, at the surface of the films prepared at oxygen/argon flow ratios between 0% and 7%, whereas the films are completely oxidized into CeO2 as the aforementioned ratio increases beyond 14%. Various optical parameters for the thin films (including an optical band gap in the range of 2.25–3.1 eV) were derived from the UV–Vis reflectance. A significant change in the band gap was observed as oxygen/argon flow ratio was raised from 7% to 14% and this finding is consistent with the high-resolution XPS analysis of Ce 3d that reports a mixture of Ce2O3 and CeO2 in the films. Density functional theory (DFT+U) implemented in the Cambridge Serial Total Energy Package (CASTEP) was carried out to simulate the optical constants of CeO2 clusters at ground state. The computed electronic density of states (DOSs) of the optimized unit cell of CeO2 yields a band gap that agrees well with the experimentally measured optical band gap. The simulated and measured absorption coefficient (α) exhibited a similar trend and, to some extent, have similar values in the wavelength range from 100 to 2500 nm. The combined results of this study demonstrate good correlation between the theoretical and experimental findings.
This study focuses on synthesizing Niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) thin films on silicon wafers and quartz substrates using DC reactive magnetron sputtering for NO2 gas sensors. The films undergo annealing in ambient air at 800 °C for 1 hr. Various characterization techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Hall effect measurements, and sensitivity measurements, are employed to evaluate the structural, morphological, electrical, and sensing properties of the Nb2O5 thin films. XRD analysis confirms the polycrystalline nature and hexagonal crystal structure of Nb2O5. The optical band gap val
... Show MoreIn this paper, the effect of films thickness on the structural and optical properties of gold (Au) thin films prepared by the DC sputtering method was studied. At three different deposition times, three samples of gold thin films of three different thicknesses (200,400, and 600 nm) were prepared. X-ray diffraction patterns, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images, as well as optical spectroscopy, were used to characterize thin films. The crystalline structure of gold thin films was determined by the XRD pattern which showed to be cubic phase and polycrystalline in nature. The preferred orientation was (111) at 2Ѳ equal 37.4. The effect of deposition time on the morphology of the deposited films was v
... Show MoreCadmium oxide thin films were prepared by D.C magnetron plasma sputtering using different voltages (700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200) Volt. The Cadmium oxide structural properties using XRD analysis for just a voltage of 1200 volt at room temperature after annealing in different temperatures (523 and 623) K were studied .The results show that the films prepared at room temperature have some peaks belong to cadmium element along the directions (002), (100), (102) and (103) while the other peaks along the directions of (111), (200) and (222) belong to cadmium oxide. Annealed samples display only cadmium oxide peaks. Also, the spectroscopic properties of plasma diagnostic for CdO thin films were determined and the results show that the el
... Show MoreNano-structural of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) thin films were
deposited by chemical spray pyrolysis technique (CSPT). Nd and Ce
doped vanadium oxide films were prepared, adding Neodymium
chloride (NdCl3) and ceric sulfate (Ce(SO4)2) of 3% in separate
solution. These precursor solutions were used to deposit un-doped
V2O5 and doped with Nd and Ce films on the p-type Si (111) and
glass substrate at 250°C. The structural, optical and electrical
properties were investigated. The X-ray diffraction study revealed a
polycrystalline nature of the orthorhombic structure with the
preferred orientation of (010) with nano-grains. Atomic force
microscopy (AFM) was used to characterize the morphology of the
films. Un-do
This contribution investigates the impact of adding transition metal of Ti to CeOy samples at various concentrations referring to 0, 15.84, 24.46, 34.46, 36.23, 38.46, 45.38% and pure TiOy, correspondingly. The samples were fabricated by the magnetron sputtering technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) configurations demonstrate the presence of α-Ce2O3 and Ce2O3 phases with increased Ti contents in the systems. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experimentation confirms the purity of the S1-sample (CeO2) and the purity of the S8-sample (TiO2). Further XPS analysis reveals that Ti incorporation in the doped systems functions as a reducing agent because of the existence of α-Ce2O3 and Ce2O3 phases. Moreover, based on UV–vis spectroscopy res
... Show MoreThis contribution investigates the impact of adding transition metal of Ti to CeOy samples at various concentrations referring to 0, 15.84, 24.46, 34.46, 36.23, 38.46, 45.38% and pure TiOy, correspondingly. The samples were fabricated by the magnetron sputtering technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) configurations demonstrate the presence of α-Ce2O3 and Ce2O3 phases with increased Ti contents in the systems. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experimentation confirms the purity of the S1-sample (CeO2) and the purity of the S8-sample (TiO2). Further XPS analysis reveals that Ti incorporation in the doped systems functions as a reducing agent because of the existence of α-Ce2O3 and Ce2O3 phases. Moreover, based on UV–vis spectroscopy res
... Show MoreIn this work, metal oxide nanostructures, mainly copper oxide (CuO), nickel oxide (NiO), titanium dioxide (TiO2), and multilayer structure, were synthesized by the DC reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The effect of deposition time on the spectroscopic characteristics, as well as on the nanoparticle size, was determined. A long deposition time allows more metal atoms sputtered from the target to bond to oxygen atoms and form CuO, NiO, or TiO2 molecules deposited as thin films on glass substrates. The structural characteristics of the final samples showed high structural purity as no other compounds than CuO, NiO, and TiO2 were found in the final samples. Also, the prepared multilayer structures did not show new compounds other than th
... Show MoreTiO2 thin films were deposited by reactive d.c magnetron sputtering method on a glass substrate with various ratio of gas flow (Oxygen /Argon) (50/50, 100/50 and 150/50) at substrate temperature 573K. It can be observe that the optical energy gap of TiO2 thin films dependent on the ratio of gas flow (oxygen/argon), it varies between (3.45eV-3.57eV) also it is seen that the optical constants (α, n, K, εr and εi ) has been varied with the change of the ratio of gas flow (Oxygen /Argon).