Effect of V2O5 concentration on structural and optical properties of WO3 thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Thin films of WO3 and V2O5 doped WO3 were coated on glass substrates using sputtering targets of diameter 50mm and thickness 5mm with RF power of 100 W and source to substrate distance of 60mm at room temperature for various V2O5 compositions (1, 2, 4, 6 and 10 %). XRD studies revealed that as deposited films were amorphous for all compositions. Morphological studies like Laser Raman and SEM too confirmed this amorphous nature of films. Refractive index (n) and the extinction coefficient (k) were calculated from the optical spectra such as transmittance and absorbance measured over the wavelength range of 200 to 2500nm. The films exhibited transmittance in the range of 80 to 90% in the UV-Vis-NIR region. Optical band gaps were calculated for both direct and indirect transitions. The optical parameters such as optical dispersion energies Eo and Ed, the average dielectric constant (ε), average values of the oscillator strength (So), wavelength of single oscillator (λo), and plasma frequency (ωp) were also calculated.