Optical properties of uniform, porous, amorphous Ta2O5 coatings on silica: temperature effects

Abstract

We present spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) results, in the 0.75–5 eV spectral range, obtained on highly uniform Ta2O5 coatings deposited on high-quality silica substrates by ion sputtering. The study was motivated mainly by issues related to the exploitation of Ta2O5–SiO2 λ/4 multilayers in detectors of gravitational waves. Two sets of samples with nominal thicknesses of 40 and 500 nm were considered. A sub-set of samples was treated with post-growth annealing in air for several hours at temperatures Tann up to 600 °C. The SE data were complemented with photothermal common-path interferometry measurements at 1064 nm providing data about absorption losses in the 1–4 ppm range. SE data, taken at room temperature, were analysed by exploiting three different three-phase (substrate/film/surface) models (Cody–Lorentz, Tauc–Lorentz and Herzinger–Johs) of the fundamental absorption edge. Following the literature (Stenzel 2009 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 055312) the simulations exploited a graded nano-porosity inside the coating, testing both the shape and composition of the pores. The best simulation of data was obtained using the Cody–Lorentz approach and a quasi-uniform density (6–7.5%) of empty spherical pores, slowly degrading from the substrate/film interface towards the film/ambient interface. A comparison with the literature indicated a high stoichiometric quality of the coatings. The analysis of samples annealed to increasingly higher Tann showed (i) a slight blue-shift of the energy gap (ii) an increase in the pore volume fraction, (iii) an increase (1–2%) in the coating thickness, (iv) a small (less than 1%) reduction in the index of refraction in the transparency region and (v) a limited increase in absorption losses. These findings were interpreted in terms of a release of the compressive strain inherent to the deposition process.