Fabrication and Evaluation of Optical Characteristics of (PVA-MnO2–ZrO2) Nanocomposites for Nanodevices in Optics and Photonics

Abstract

We study the impact of (MnO2–ZrO2) nanoparticles on optical properties of (PVA) polymer. Several samples were produced with different weight ratios of (MnO2–ZrO2) nanoparticles. To prepare the selected samples, the casting method is used. To record the absorption spectrum, wavelengths of 200–1100 nm are applied. We have determined the absorption coefficient, energy gap for indirect transitions (forbidden and allowed), optical constants (such as the dielectric constant with its imaginary and real parts, refractive index, and attenuation coefficient), and optical conductivity. The results indicate that there is a proportional relationship between the optical constants and the concentration of (MnO2–ZrO2) nanoparticles, which means that an increase of the concentration of (MnO2–ZrO2) nanoparticles leads to an increase of the optical constants, while the transmission decreases. Additionally, the optical energy gap decreases from 4.83 eV to 3.4 eV and from 4.65 eV to 3.28 eV with increasing the concentration of (MnO2–ZrO2) nanoparticles for allowed and forbidden indirect transitions, respectively. These results can be considered as key ones for the use of (PVA-MnO2–ZrO2) nanocomposites in various fields such as optoelectronics and photonics.