Optical characteristics of transparent samarium oxide thin films deposited by the radio-frequency sputtering technique

Abstract

Transparent metal oxide thin films of samarium oxide (Sm2O3) were prepared on pre-cleaned fused optically flat quartz substrates by radio-frequency (RF) sputtering technique. The as-deposited thin films were annealed at different temperatures (873, 973 and 1073 K) for 4 h in air under normal atmospheric pressure. The topological morphology of the film surface was characterized by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The optical properties of the as-prepared and annealed thin films were studied using their reflectance and transmittance spectra at nearly normal incident light. The estimated direct optical band gap energy (Egd) values were found to increase by increasing the annealing temperatures. The dispersion curves of the refractive index of Sm2O3 thin films were found to obey the single oscillator model.