Optical properties of TiAlC/TiAlCN/TiAlSiCN/TiAlSiCO/TiAlSiO tandem absorber coatings by phase-modulated spectroscopic ellipsometry

Abstract

TiAlC, TiAlCN, TiAlSiCN, TiAlSiCO, and TiAlSiO layers of thicknesses ~2.2 μm, 755, 491, 393, and 431 nm, respectively, were deposited on stainless steel, silicon, and glass substrates to study their refractive indices and extinction coefficients using the phase-modulated spectroscopic ellipsometry in the wavelength range of 300–1200 nm. Absorption coefficient of each layer was calculated from the extinction coefficient of the layer. The results indicate that the first three layers (i.e., TiAlC, TiAlCN, and TiAlSiCN) are absorbing in nature, while TiAlSiCO and TiAlSiO act as intermediate and antireflection layers. Subsequently, a tandem absorber of TiAlC/TiAlCN/TiAlSiCN/TiAlSiCO/TiAlSiO with layer thicknesses of 62, 20, 18, 16, and 27 nm, respectively, was deposited on stainless steel substrates to fabricate a spectrally selective coating with absorptance of 0.961 and emittance of 0.15 at 82 °C. The obtained refractive indices and extinction coefficients of the tandem absorber were used to simulate the reflectance of the deposited tandem absorber using SCOUT software. Simulated reflectance data of the tandem absorber showed a good agreement with the experimental data measured by UV–Vis–NIR and FTIR spectrophotometry. The angular dependence of the selective properties of the tandem absorber was studied by measuring the reflectance spectra of the tandem absorber at different incident angles.