Precise spectrophotometric method for semitransparent metallic thin-film index determination using interference enhancement

A precise spectrophotometric method to determine the refractive index of a semitransparent metallic thin film is presented. This method relies on interference enhancement of the measured spectra, employing an opaque substrate with a dielectric spacer layer beneath the absorbing layer of interest to create interference fringes.The resulting spectral oscillations of the stack are highly sensitive to the properties of the top absorbing layer, allowing precise determination of the refractive index via fitting. The performance of this method is verified using simulations in comparison to the typical method of depositing the absorbing thin film directly onto a transparent substrate. An experimental demonstration is made for titanium thin films over the visible range (370-835 nm). The refractive index of these films is extracted from experimental data using a combination of the Modified Drude and Forouhi-Bloomer models. This method showed high repeatability and precision, and is verified for Ti films between 6-70 nm thickness.

Novel, Simple and Low-Cost Preparation of Ba-Modified TiO2 Nanotubes for Diclofenac Degradation under UV/Vis Radiation

A novel low-cost synthesis of barium-modified TiO2 nanotube (TNT) arrays was used to obtain an immobilized photocatalyst for degradation of diclofenac. TNT arrays were prepared by electrochemical anodization of titanium thin films deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass by magnetron sputtering, ensuring transparency and immobilization of the nanotubes. The Ba-modifications were obtained by annealing solutions of Ba(OH)2 spin coated on top of TNT. Three different concentrations of Ba(OH)2 were used (12.5 mM, 25 mM and 50 mM). The crystalline structure, morphology and presence of Ba were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, respectively. Ba-modified TiO2 nanotubes (BTNT) were tested for photocatalytic degradation of diclofenac under UV/Vis radiation and it was proven that all of the Ba-modified samples showed an increase in photocatalytic activity with respect to the unmodified TNTs. The most efficient photocatalyst was the sample prepared with 25 mM Ba(OH)2 which showed 90% diclofenac degradation after 60 min. This result was in agreement with cyclic voltammetry measurements that showed the largest increase in photo-oxidation current densities for the same sample due to the increased generation of •OH radicals obtained by a more efficient photogenerated charge separation.

Accurate Spectrophotometric Method for Semitransparent Metallic Thin-film Index Determination Using Interference Enhancement

An accurate spectrophotometric method to determine the refractive index of a semitransparent metallic thin film is presented. This method relies on interference enhancement of the measured spectra, employing an opaque substrate with a dielectric spacer layer beneath the absorbing layer of interest to create interference fringes. The resulting spectral oscillations of the stack are highly sensitive to the properties of the top absorbing layer, allowing precise determination of the refractive index via fitting. The performance of this method is verified using simulations in comparison to the typical method of depositing the absorbing thin film directly onto a transparent substrate. An experimental demonstration is made for titanium thin films over the visible range (370-835 nm). The refractive index of these films is extracted from experimental data using a combination of the Modified Drude and Forouhi-Bloomer models. This method showed high repeatability and accuracy, and is verified for Ti films between 6-70 nm thickness.

Structural and Optical Characterization of Thermally Oxidized Titanium Thin Films Prepared by Ion Beam-assisted Deposition (IBAD) Technique

Titanium oxide (TiO2) thin films have been grown by thermal oxidation of sputtered Titanium (Ti) thin layers using ion beam-assisted deposition (IBAD). X-ray diffraction showed that prior to oxidation, the films are composed of hexagonal crystallites of Ti. After oxidation, a film structure transition occurs from monoclinic β-TiO2 type to tetragonal anatase type as the annealing temperature of Ti layer is increased from 250 °C to 550 °C. The film thickness was about 230 nm. Visualization and scanning by atomic force microscope (AFM) revealed a low roughness of the samples, which increases when the annealing temperature is increased. The optical transmittances of the films in the visible spectrum were in the range of 85-95%. The values of optical band gap have been estimated to be 3.43 eV and 3.61 eV, for thin films annealed at 250°C and 550°C, respectively. Keywords: TiO2 thin film, IBAD, XRD, structural and optical properties.