White-light spectral interferometric technique to measure a nonlinear phase function of a thin-film structure

We present a new two-step white-light spectral interferometric technique to measure a nonlinear phase function of a thin-film structure. The technique is based on recording of channeled spectra at the output of a Michelson interferometer and their processing by using a windowed Fourier transform to retrieve the phase functions. First, the phase function including the effect of a thin-film structure is retrieved. Second, the structure is replaced by a reference sample of known phase change on reflection and the corresponding phase function is retrieved. From the two functions, the nonlinear phase function of the thin-film structure is obtained. The feasibility of this simple method is confirmed in processing the experimental data for a SiO₂ thin film on a Si wafer of known optical constants. Four samples of the thin film are used and their thicknesses are determined. The thicknesses obtained are compared with those resulting from reflectometric measurements, and a good agreement is confirmed.     

P-doped TiO2 nanoparticles film coated on ground glass substrate and the repeated photodegradation of dye under solar light irradiation

The convenient reuse of photocatalysts is essential to the practical application in the degradation of organic pollutant. In this study, compact P-doped TiO₂ film coated on ground glass substrate was easily achieved by layer-by-layer assembly technique. Thus such an elaborate complex system exhibited very convenient in recycling photocatalyst in the degradation of dye with high catalytic activity. The excellent performance of P-TiO₂ film coated on ground glass substrates endows the assembled route potential in purifying waste water.     

Contours of constant Δ and Ψ in the ε2-ε4 plane for the ellipsometric functions

Contour graphs of ε₂ vs ε₄ for different film thicknesses and a range of angles of incidence have been plotted for the ellipsometric functions Δ and Ψ in both the reflection and transmission modes. In the case of reflection ellipsometry, when the plots for Δ_R and Ψ_R are superimposed, the two sets of contours cross nearly at right angles over a large part of the field, this being indicative of the high accuracy obtainable in using this technique to determine ε₄ and ε₂ and hence the optical constants, n and k, for the film material. The reflection ellipsometric technique is accurate over angles of incidence between 30° and 75° and for a range of film thicknesses between λ/30 and 5λ. Transmission ellipsometry is less useful, due to anomalies in both X_s and X_p where sudden phase changes of ±π occur in regions of interest. There is also the possibility of multiple solutions, although the use of a multiangle technique would enable the “correct” values to be more easily determined.     

Strong nonlinear optical refractive effect of self-assembled multilayer films containing tetrasulfonated iron phthalocyanine

Multilayer films containing anionic iron phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate (FePcTsNa₄) and cationic poly(diallydimethyl ammonium chloride) were prepared using electrostatic self-assembled layer-by-layer technique. The growth of the film was monitored by ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy, and the morphology of the film was characterized by atomic force microscopy. Polarized visible spectra showed that macrocycles of FePcTsNa₄ in the film presented a flat orientation relative to the plane of the solid substrates. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of the film were studied by using Z-scan technique with laser duration of 21 ps at the wavelength of 532 nm. The FePcTsNa₄/PDDA film exhibited strong self-focusing effect with n₂ value of 4.13 × 10⁻¹⁵ m²/W, which is 4 orders larger than that of FePcTsNa₄ aqueous solution.     

Morphological and optical characterization of thermally evaporated copper sulphide thin films

Thin films of Cu₂S on opaque gold layers and quartz substrates at the temperature of 393 K were deposited by a thermal evaporation technique. The surface morphology of the Cu₂S thin films at different thicknesses is investigated by AFM. It is seen that all the films are composed of highly coordinated spherical nano-sized particles well adhered to the substrate. The transmittance and reflectance spectra of Cu₂S thin films on the quartz substrate were recorded by a UV–visible spectrophotometer. The results show that the thermally evaporated Cu₂S thin films have the characteristic transmittance and reflectance suitable for optoelectronic applications. The stoichiometry and surface morphology of a grown Cu₂S thin film were confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The dependence of the refractive index and the extinction coefficient on the photon energy for both the surface film and the opaque gold layer have been determined by ellipsometry. From the spectral behaviour of the absorption coefficient at two distinct absorption regions, a dual-band scheme of optical absorption for a Cu₂S thin film is described. The indirect and direct edges of Cu₂S are found to be about at 0.91 eV and 2.68 eV, respectively.     

Single-valued determination of second-order nonlinear susceptibilities by quarter-wave-plate rotation

We present a new technique to determine the complex-valued tensor components of the nonlinear surface susceptibility _s ⁽²⁾ of isotropic adsorbate layers. It is based on a change of the state of the fundamental polarization by rotation of a quarter-wave plate. We verify the theoretical predictions by measurements on a Langmuir-Blodgett film of a highly nonlinear hemicyanine dye in total reflection geometry. The obtained second-harmonic rotation pattern is analyzed in Fourier components, which are related to the absolute value and relative phase of the tensor components of the surface susceptibility. We compare the obtained results with separate measurements in which a half-wave plate is used to rotate the fundamental polarization. Our results are confirmed by an additional interference experiment. The method presented here allows the single-valued determination of _s ⁽²⁾ with measurements at only one angle of incidence, in contrast to the half-wave-plate technique.     

Structural and magnetic properties of bulk and thin films of Mg0.95Mn0.05Fe2O4

We present here a comparative study on structural and magnetic properties of bulk and thin films of Mg_0.95Mn_0.05Fe₂O₄ ferrite deposited on two different substrates using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and dc magnetization measurements. XRD pattern indicates that the bulk sample and their thin films exhibit a polycrystalline single phase cubic spinel structure. It is found that the film deposited on indium tin oxide coated glass (ITO) substrate has smaller grain size than the film deposited on platinum coated silicon (Pt–Si) substrate. Study of magnetization hysteresis loop measurements infer that the bulk sample of Mg_0.95Mn_0.05Fe₂O₄ and its thin film deposited on Pt–Si substrate shows a well-defined hysteresis loop at room temperature, which reflects its ferrimagnetic behavior. However, the film deposited on ITO does not show any hysteresis, which reflects its superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature.     

In situ etch rate measurements of thin film combinatorial libraries

We demonstrate the use of optical reflection mapping as an in situ characterization tool to evaluate the corrosion rate of compositionally graded thin film combinatorial libraries coated with a commercial glass etching paste. A multi-channel fiber-optically coupled CCD-array-based spectrometer was used to collect a series of reflectance maps from 300 to 1000 nm versus time. The thin film interference oscillations in the measured reflection spectra have been fitted to determine the film thickness as a function of time and thereby the etch rate. Application of this technique to an In-Mo-O composition spread library is presented as an example.     

Photopyroelectric (PPE) Spectroscopy of Surface Reflectance for Nd2−xCexCuo4 Single Crystals

The relevance of the sample surface reflectance Rs when applying the photopyroelectric technique is demonstrated and, based on this, a method for determining Rs spectra of opaque samples, is presented. Measurements were done on single crystals of Nd₂CuO₄ and Nd_1.97Ce_0.03CuO₄ and the results were found in good agreement with the data obtained by optical methods.     

Investigation of interface roughness cross-correlation properties of optical thin films from total scattering losses

The interface roughness and interface roughness cross-correlation properties affect the scattering losses of high-quality optical thin films. In this paper, the theoretical models of light scattering induced by surface and interface roughness of optical thin films are concisely presented. Furthermore, influence of interface roughness cross-correlation properties to light scattering is analyzed by total scattering losses. Moreover, single-layer TiO₂ thin film thickness, substrate roughness of K9 glass and ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) technique effect on interface roughness cross-correlation properties are studied by experiments, respectively. A 17-layer dielectric quarter-wave high reflection multilayer is analyzed by total scattering losses. The results show that the interface roughness cross-correlation properties depend on TiO₂ thin film thickness, substrate roughness and deposition technique. The interface roughness cross-correlation properties decrease with the increase of film thickness or the decrease of substrates roughness. Furthermore, ion beam assisted deposition technique can increase the interface roughness cross-correlation properties of optical thin films. The measured total scattering losses of 17-layer dielectric quarter-wave high reflection multilayer deposited with IBAD indicate that completely correlated interface model can be observed, when substrate roughness is about 2.84 nm.     

Thickness of SiO2 thin film on silicon wafer measured by dispersive white-light spectral interferometry

We present a white-light spectral interferometric technique for measuring the thickness of SiO₂ thin film on a silicon wafer. The technique utilizes a slightly dispersive Michelson interferometer with a cube beam splitter and a fibre-optic spectrometer to record channelled spectra in two configurations. In the first, a standard configuration with two identical metallic mirrors, the recorded channelled spectrum is fitted to the theoretical one to determine the effective thickness of the beam splitter made of BK7 optical glass. In the second configuration one of the mirrors is replaced by SiO₂ thin film on the silicon wafer and the recorded channelled spectrum is fitted to the theoretical one to determine the thin-film thickness. We consider multiple reflection within the thin-film structure, use the optical constants for all the materials involved in the set-up, and confirm very good agreement between theory and experiment. The technique is applied to four samples with various SiO₂ film thicknesses. PACS 07.60.Ly; 68.55.Jk; 78.20     

Smart window coating based on nanostructured VO2 thin film

Smart window coating is fabricated by using vanadium dioxide (VO₂) thin film. The VO₂ thin film is nanocrystal structured and has low phase transition temperature which is about 35 °C. This kind of thin film is infrared-optically transparent in the semiconductor phase at low temperatures and highly reflective in the metallic phase at high temperatures. Based on the VO₂ thin film, a multilayered structure for smart window is designed and fabricated. The multilayered structure is optically transparent for visible light whether at low temperatures or high temperatures, and is transparent at low temperatures and opaque at high temperatures for infrared light, which is smart for adjusting infrared transmittance. This type of multilayered structure is potential to be applied to green smart windows to realize energy saving function.     

Effect of TiO2/Al2O3 film coated diamond abrasive particles by sol-gel technique

The diamond abrasive particles were coated with the TiO₂/Al₂O₃ film by the sol-gel technique. Compared with the uncoated diamonds, the TiO₂/Al₂O₃ film was excellent material for the protection of the diamonds. The results showed that the incipient oxidation temperature of the TiO₂/Al₂O₃ film coated diamonds in air atmosphere was 775 °C, which was higher 175 °C than that of the uncoated diamonds. And the coated diamonds also had better the diamond's single particle compressive strength and the impact toughness than that of uncoated diamonds after sintering at 750 °C. For the vitrified bond grinding wheels, replacing the uncoated diamonds with the TiO₂/Al₂O₃ film coated diamonds, the volume expansion of the grinding wheels decreased from 6.2% to 3.4%, the porosity decreased from 35.7% to 25.7%, the hardness increased from 61.2H_RC to 66.5H_RC and the grinding ratio of the vitrified bond grinding wheels to carbide alloy (YG8) increased from 11.5 to 19.1.     

Photoinduced changes in optical properties of Ga-Sb-Ge-Se glasses

The kinetics of photoinduced effects on Ga₅Sb₁₀Ge₂₅Se₆₀ thin film exposed to continuous wave laser radiations are studied as a function of exposure time and laser intensity. The transmission and reflection spectra of thin films before and after exposure are investigated. The optical band gap and the refractive index are derived from the above spectra. Generalized Miller's rule and linear refractive index are used to find the nonlinear susceptibility and nonlinear refractive index of the thin films. The studies show a red shift in the band gap with increase in exposure time and laser power which is attributed to the photoinduced darkening in the films.     

Electrochemical synthesis of polythiophene on nickel coated mild steel and corrosion performance

Electrochemical polymerization of polythiophene (PTh) was investigated on nickel coated mild steel (MS) electrode, in LiClO₄ containing acetonitrile medium (ACN-LiClO₄). Nickel layer (1 μm thick) was deposited galvanostatically, from a proper bath solution. Then, the synthesis of PTh film was achieved in 0.1 M thiophene containing ACN-LiClO₄, by using cyclic voltammetry technique. The corrosion performances of nickel coated samples with and without polymer top coats were investigated in 3.5% NaCl solution, by using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and anodic polarization curves. The nickel coating behaved like a physical barrier and provided some protection to MS against corrosion. But its barrier property diminished significantly with time and failed to protect MS. It was shown that PTh top coat improved the barrier efficiency remarkably, and excellent protection efficiency was obtained against MS corrosion, for considerable exposure time in such aggressive environment.     

椭偏精确测定透明衬底上吸收薄膜的厚度及光学常数

椭偏仪难以精确测量透明衬底上吸收薄膜光学常数的原因:1)衬底的背面反射光为非相干光, 它的存在会极大的增加拟合难度; 2)衬底光学常数(折射率和消光系数)的差异会影响测量的准确性, 而且会在吸收薄膜的光学常数中表现出来, 需要单独测量其光学常数; 3)厚度与光学常数之间呈现强烈的关联性. 针对以上三个问题, 选择石英玻璃、载玻片、盖玻片和普通浮法玻璃作为研究对象. 采用折射率匹配法消除上述衬底背面反射光的影响. 结果显示, 折射率匹配法能够有效消除折射率在1.43-1.64、波长范围为190-1700 nm波段的石英、浮法玻璃等透明衬底的背面反射光. 之后, 通过拟合椭偏参数ψ和垂直入射时的透过率T₀ 分别得到以上衬底的折射率和消光系数. 拟合得到的结果与文献报道的趋势一致. 最后, 采用椭偏参数和透过率同时拟合的方法(SE+T法)得到类金刚石薄膜(沉积在石英玻璃上)和非晶硅薄膜(沉积在载玻片、盖玻片上)光学常数和厚度的准确解.     

Planar quarter wave stacks prepared from chalcogenide Ge-Se and polymer polystyrene thin films

Planar quarter wave stacks based on amorphous chalcogenide Ge-Se alternating with polymer polystyrene (PS) thin films are reported as Bragg reflectors for near-infrared region. Chalcogenide films were prepared using a thermal evaporation (TE) while polymer films were deposited using a spin-coating technique. The film thicknesses, d∼165 nm for Ge₂₅Se₇₅ (n=2.35) and d∼250 nm for polymer film (n=1.53), were calculated to center the reflection band round 1550 nm, whose wavelengths are used in telecommunication. Optical properties of prepared multilayer stacks were determined in the range 400-2200 nm using spectral ellipsometry, optical transmission and reflection measurements. Total reflection for normal incidence of unpolarized light was observed from 1530 to 1740 nm for 8 Ge-Se+7 PS thin film stacks prepared on silicon wafer. In addition to total reflection of light with normal incidence, the omnidirectional total reflection of TE-polarized light from 8 Ge-Se+7 PS thin film stacks was observed. Reflection band maxima shifted with varying incident angles, i.e., 1420-1680 nm for 45° deflection from the normal and 1300-1630 nm for 70° deflection from the normal.     

Absorption spectra response of XRQA radiochromic film to x-ray radiation

Gafchromic XRQA, radiochromic film is a high sensitivity auto developing x-ray analysis films designed and available for kilovoltage x-ray, dose and QA assessment applications. The film is designed for reflective analysis with a yellow transparent top filter and white opaque backing materials. This allows the film to be visually inspected for colour changes with a higher level of contrast than clear coated radiochromic films such as Gafchromic EBT version 1. The spectral absorption properties in the visible wavelengths have been investigated and results show two main peaks in absorption located at 636 nm and 585 nm. These peaks are located in the same position as EBT Gafchromic film highlighting a similar chemical monomer/polymer for radiation sensitivity. A much higher sensitivity however is found at kilovoltage energies with an average 1.55 OD units per 20 cGy irradiation variation measured at 636 nm using 150 kVp x-rays. This is compared to approximately 0.12 OD units per 20 cGy measured at 636 nm for EBT film at 6 MV x-ray energy. That is, the XRQA film is more than 10 times more sensitive than EBT1 film. The visual colour change is enhanced by the yellow polyester coating. However this does not affect the absorption spectra properties in the red region of analysis which is the main area for use using desktop scanners in reflection mode.     

Laser nonlinear-optical probing of silicon/SiO2 interfaces: Surface stress formation and relaxation

A nonlinear optical technique based on optical second harmonic generation in reflection is shown to provide information on the surface layer structure of semiconductor crystals, thin films and layered systems. The second harmonic intensity is sensitive to inhomogeneous stress in centrosymmetric materials via spatial selection rules and the appearance of an electric dipole contribution to the second order nonlinear optical susceptibility. The technique is used to monitor mechanical stress relaxation in the SiO₂/Si interface during several annealing procedures.     

Third-order nonlinear optical properties in [(C4H9)4N]2[Cu(C3S5)2]-doped PMMA thin film using Z-scan technique in picosecond pulse

An organometallic complex, [(C₄H₉)₄N]₂[Cu(C₃S₅)₂], abbreviated as BuCu, was synthesized. Then the BuCu-doped polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) thin film with a doping concentration 1% by weight (1 wt.%) was fabricated using a spin-coating method and its third-order nonlinear optical properties were characterized using the Z-scan technique with 20 ps pulse duration at 532 and 1064 nm, respectively. The Z-scan curves have revealed that the material exhibits a self-defocusing effect at both wavelengths. Saturable absorption at 532 nm and two-photon absorption at 1064 nm were also found, respectively. Additionally, the calculated results of the material in film were compared with that of acetone solution, which indicated that the values in film were larger than that of acetone solution for about two orders in magnitude. The origins were analyzed of the difference between the two wavelengths. Our results suggest that considerable nonlinear optical properties were confirmed in BuCu-doped PMMA film. The material can easily be doped into PMMA film and forms a waveguide mode. So this material should be considered to be manufactured into devices and applied in all-optical switching, laser locking-mode, optical limiting fields etc.