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.
Thin films of vanadium oxide nanoparticles doped with different concentrations of europium oxide (2, 4, 6, and 8) wt % are deposited on glass and Si substrates with orientation (111) utilizing by pulsed laser deposition technique using Nd:YAG laser that has a wavelength of 1064 nm, average frequency of 6 Hz and pulse duration of 10 ns. The films were annealed in air at 300 °C for two hours, then the structural, morphological and optical properties are characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and UV-Vis spectroscopy respectively. The X-ray diffraction results of V2O5:Eu2O3 exhibit that the film has apolycrystalline monoclinic V2O5 and triclinic V4O7 phases. The FESEM image shows a h
... Show MorePolymer films of PEG and PVA and their blend with different
concentrations of MnCl2 (0, 2, 4, 6 and 10 %.wt) were study using
casting technique. The X-ray spectra of pure PEG, PVA and
PVA:PEG films and with addition of 2% concentrations from
(MnCl2) show amorphous structures. The results for FTIR show the
interaction between the filler and polymer blend results in
decreasing crystallinity with rich amorphous phase. This
amorphous nature confirms the complexation between the filler and
the polymer blend. The optical properties of (PVA:PEG/MnCl2)
contain the recording of absorbance (A) and explain that the
absorption coefficient (α), refractive index (n), extinction coefficient
(ko) and the dielectric cons
Abstract: Reflection optical fibre Humidity sensor is presented in this work, which is based on no core fibre prepared by splicing a segment of no core fibre (NCF) at different lengths 1-6 cm with fixed diameter 125 µm and a single mode fibre (SMF). The range of humidity inside the chamber is controlled from 30% to 90% RH at temperature ~ 30 °С. The experimental result shows that the resonant wavelength dip shift decreases linearly with an increment of RH% and the sensitivity of the sensor increased linearly with an increasing in the length of NCF. However, a high sensitivity 716.07pm/RH% is obtained at length 5cm with good stability and reputability. Furthermore, the sensor is shif
... Show MoreCarbides or nitrides thin films present materials with good mechanical properties for industrial applications as they can be coatings at low temperatures serve temperature sensitive surfaces. In this work the effect of the C percentage on the mechanical properties represented by the Young modulus (E) of combinatorial magnetron sputtered TiCx (34%x˂65%) has been studied. The structure of the produced films is TiC independent on the C concentration. The mechanical properties are increased with increasing the C concentration up to 50%, and then decreasing with further C % increasing. These results can be explained by considering the resultant residual stresses.
In this work, Pure and Cu: doped titanium dioxide nano-powder was prepared through a solid-state method. the dopant concentration [Cu/TiO2 in atomic percentage (wt%)] is derived from 0 to 7 wt.%. structural properties of the samples performed with XRD revealed all nanopowders are of titanium dioxide having polycrystalline nature. Physical and Morphological studies were conducted using a scanning electronic microscope SEM test instrument to confirm the grain size and texture. The other properties of samples were examined using an optical microscope, Lee's Disc, Shore D hardness instrument, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Results showed that the thermal conductivity
... Show MoreSiO2 nanostructure is synthesized by the Sol-Gel method and thin films are prepared using dip coating technique. The effect of laser densification is studied. X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) are used to analyze the samples. The results show that the silica nanoparticles are successfully synthesized by the sol-gel method after laser densification. XRD patterns show that cristobalite structure is observed from diode laser (410 nm) rather than diode laser (532 nm). FESEM images showed that the shape of nano silica is spherical and the particles size is in nano range (? 100 nm). It is concluded that the spherical nanocrystal structure of silica
... Show MoreThe Ge0.4Te0.6 alloy has been prepared. Thin films of Ge0.4Te0.6 has been prepared via a thermal evaporation method with 4000A thickness, and rate of deposition (4.2) A/sec at pressure 2x10-6 Torr. The A.C electrical conductivity of a-Ge0.4Te0.6 thin films has been studied as a function of frequency for annealing temperature within the range (423-623) K, the deduced exponent s values, was found to decrease with increasing of annealing temperature through the frequency of the range (102-106) Hz. It was found that, the correlated barrier hopping (CBH) is the dominant conduction mechanism. Values of dielectric constant ε1 and dielectric loss ε2 were found to decrease with frequency and increase with temperature. The activation energies have
... Show MoreZnO thin films have been prepared by pulse laser deposition technique at room temperatures (RT). These films were deposited on GaAs substrate to form the ZnO/GaAs heterojunction solar cell. The effect of annealing temperatures at ( RT,100, 200)K on structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films has been investigated. The X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that all films have hexagonal polycrystalline structure. AFM shows that the grains uniformly distributed with homogeneous structure. The optical absorption spectra showed that all films have direct energy gap. The band gap energy of these films decreased with increasing annealing temperatures. From the electrical properties, the carriers have n-type conductivity. From
... Show MoreThin films of ZnO nano crystalline doped with different concentrations (0, 6, 9, 12, and 18 )wt. % of copper were deposited on a glass substrate via pulsed laser deposition method (PLD). The properties of ZnO: Cu thin-nanofilms have been studied by absorbing UV-VIS, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopes (AFM). UV-VIS spectroscopy was used to determine the type and value of the optical energy gap, while X-ray diffraction was used to examine the structure and determine the size of the crystals. Atomic force microscopes were used to study the surface formation of precipitated materials. The UV-VIS spectroscopy was used to determine the type and value of the optical energy gap.