Further Increasing the Accuracy of Characterization of a Thin Dielectric or Semiconductor Film on a Substrate from Its Interference Transmittance Spectrum

Three means are investigated for further increasing the accuracy of the characterization of a thin film on a substrate, from the transmittance spectrum T(λ) of the specimen, based on the envelope method. Firstly, it is demonstrated that the accuracy of characterization, of the average film thickness d¯ and the thickness non-uniformity ∆d over the illuminated area, increases, employing a simple dual transformation utilizing the product T(λ)xs(λ), where Tsm(λ) is the smoothed spectrum of T(λ) and xs(λ) is the substrate absorbance. Secondly, an approach is proposed for selecting an interval of wavelengths, so that using envelope points only from this interval provides the most accurate characterization of d¯ and ∆d, as this approach is applicable no matter whether the substrate is transparent or non-transparent. Thirdly, the refractive index n(λ) and the extinction coefficient k(λ) are computed, employing curve fitting by polynomials of the optimized degree of 1/λ, instead of by previously used either polynomial of the optimized degree of λ or a two-term exponential of λ. An algorithm is developed, applying these three means, and implemented, to characterize a-Si and As98Te2 thin films. Record high accuracy within 0.1% is achieved in the computation of d¯ and n(λ) of these films.

Determination of Optical Constants and Thickness of Nanostructured ZnO Film by Spin Coating Technique

In this report, we have investigated optical constants and thickness of nanostructured ZnO films grown on a glass substrate by sol-gel spin coating technique using zinc acetate as precursor. Optical constants such as complex refractive index ñ and dielectric constant ϵ determined from the transmittance spectrum in the ultraviolet, visible, near infrared (UV-VIS, NIR) region by envelope method. The value of refractive index decreases from 2.34 to 1.86 and extinction coefficient increases from 0.28 to 0.64 with increasing wavelength. The decreasing behavior of refractive index is attributed due to the increase in transmission and decrease in absorption coefficient with increasing wavelength. The film exhibits reasonably high transmittance (>80%) in the visible region. Absorbance coefficient α and film thickness (d) were calculated from the interference of fringes of transmittance spectrum. The band gap and thickness of the film were found 3.02 eV and 275nm, respectively. The thickness of the film measured by envelope method is validated with cross-section micrograph of SEM images which is about 285 nm. The real part of the dielectric function of nanostructured ZnO decreases with increasing wavelength where as the imaginary part of dielectric constant increases with increasing wavelength. The observed high value of refractive index n and real part of dielectric constant ϵ at lower wavelength is due to band edge absorption of carriers. The dispersion relation shows the increase of complex refractive index and dielectric constant at the high frequency regime is due to the discharging of defect levels using optical excitation of carriers in the visible region.

Transmittance in a dispersive quasiperiodic photonic crystal

In this work, transmittance spectrum for a quasiperiodic one-dimensional photonic crystal, composed of high-temperature superconductor and semiconductor layers arranged within the crystal based on a Dodecanacci sequence, has been calculated using the transfer matrix method and the two-fluid model. The critical temperature of the superconductor depends on the hydrostatic pressure, while the semiconductor’s plasma frequency and dielectric constant were considered to be dependent on both the pressure and temperature applied. We have found that the transmittance spectrum shows the band gaps unfolded and increased in number when the Dodecanacci sequence increased. In addition, this work shows that transmission responses can be tuned to higher frequencies as pressure increases. However, a small red shift of the transmittance spectrum can be observed as temperature increases. Finally, the research observed the maximization of the band gaps by increasing the thickness of the superconductor layers. We hope this work may be considered for application in tunable narrowband filters.