LAB REPORT:

To i n ve s ti ga te the optical characteristics of gold implanted

MoO3(molybdenum tri-oxide) thin film and deteremine the bandgap.

DEBABRATA DEY

Predoc
AIM :

To investigate the optical characteristics of gold implanted MoO3(molybdenum

trioxide) thin film and find the bandgap.

THEORY:

MoO3 material:

Molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) is a compound of molybdenum (Mo) at its highest

oxidation state.It is a transition metal oxide. Transition metal oxides are an
important class of solids with n-type conductivity and find many applications in thin
film form.As a nano particle it exhibits significant qualitative behaviour as the
dimension reduced to nanoscale.

MoO3 nanoparticles exhibit an array of desirable electronic and optical properties

when chemically deposited in multilayer thin film structures or applied to substrates
in a functional coating. Among various physical properties exhibited by MoO3
electrochromism and photochromism is an interesting physical property which find
many applications in making display devices and smart windows. Recent studies
also proved that MoO3 is potential as an ion conducting layer in fabrication of
solar cells. MoO 3 as thin film and especially as nanocrystalline exhibit an
improvement in electrochromic behaviour,

Thin Films:

Since its discovery in early times, thin films rapidly found industrial applications
such as in decorative and optics purposes. With the evolution of thin film
technology, supported by the development of vacuum technology and electric
power facilities, the range of applications has increased at a level that
nowadays almost every industrial sector makes use of them to provide specific
physical and chemical properties to the surface of bulk materials

Thin Film Applications:

Improvement of a lot of industries in the last century is due to the development of

deposition methods. These industries include semiconductor electronics, integrated
circuits, LEDs, optical coating, hard coatings in order to protect tools, medicine and
many other industries.

They have several applications in various fields; furthermore, they play a significant
role in the study and development of materials with unique and special properties,
such as the superlattices which make it possible to study quantum phenomena. In
addition, they are very important because they differentiate the properties and
reactions of the material surface from its bulk and they have a wide range of
properties that can be used in a variety of applications.
Thin films can be categorized as follows:

1. Optical thin films: Used to create reflective coatings, anti-reflective

coatings, solar cells monitors, waveguides and optical detector arrays
2. Electrical or electronic thin films: Used to make insulators, conductors,
semiconductor devices, integrated circuits and piezoelectric drives
3. Magnetic thin films: Usually used to make memory disks
4. Chemical thin films: They are used to create resistance to alloying,
diffusion, corrosion and oxidation, as well as to make gas and liquid
sensors
5. Mechanical thin films: Tribological coatings to protect against abrasion,
increase hardness and adhesion and use of micro-mechanical properties
6. Thermal thin films: They are used to create insulation layers and heat
sinks.

Growth modes

1. Frank van der Merwe growth (layer by layer):

In this growth mode the adsorbate-surface and adsorbate-adsorbate
interactions are balanced. This type of growth requires lattice matching, and
hence considered an "ideal" growth mechanism.

2. Stranski-Krastanov growth (layer + island):

In this growth mode the adsorbate-surface interactions are stronger than
adsorbate-adsorbate interactions.

3. Volmer Weber (Isolated Island):

In this growth mode the adsorbate-adsorbate interactions are stronger
than adsorbate-surface interactions, hence "islands" are formed
immediately.

(layer by layer) (layer + island) (isolated island)

PVD system

High vacuum coating unit,IOP,BBSR schematic of thermal evaporation

system

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) is a thin film deposition process in which atoms
or molecules of a material are vaporized from a solid source in high vacuum and
condense on a substrate. The PVD processes can be used to deposit films of
metals, alloys, metal oxides, and some composite materials on a variety of
substrates.

PVD is used to deposit films ranging from of a few angstroms to thousands of

angstroms in thickness. The films can be of single materials, layers with graded
composition, multilayer coatings.

The most common PVD processes are:

 Thermal evaporation - material from a heated vaporization source

reaches the substrate and condenses on it
 Sputter deposition - source of vaporized material is a target being
subjected to bombardment with Ar ions

PVD has important advantages compared to other thin film deposition

techniques: PVD coatings exhibit superior hardness, durability and
resistance to wear and are more corrosion resistant. Most PVD coatings
have high temperature and good impact strength; they have excellent
abrasion resistance. The ability to utilize virtually any
 type of inorganic material on a diverse group of substrates and surfaces makes PVD a
very popular choice for fabricating thin films. Last but not least PVD coatings can be
applied with no toxic residues or by-products and are safe for the environment.

Ion implantation
It is a process in which ions of one element are accelerated into a solid target, thereby
changing the physical, chemical or electrical properties of the target.
This is used in semiconductor device fabrication and in metal finishing as well as material
science research.

UV-VIS Spectroscopy
UV-VIS spectroscopy is a powerful analytical technique to determine the optical properties
such as transmittance, reflectance and absorbance of the given sample (solids/liquids). It can
be applied to characterize semiconductor materials, coating, glass and many other materials.
1. Reflectance
The reflectance of a material is the ability of the material to reflect the energy incident
on its surface.
2. Transmittance
It is the fraction of incident light which is transmitted. That means it is the amount of
light that successfully passes through the substance.

T=I / I0

I = Transmitted light; I0 = Incident light

3. Absorbance
It is the measure of the quantity absorbed by a sample. It is also known as optical
density.
The Absorption Coefficient(α)
From Beer-Lambert law, we have

I = Io e -αx
⇨
(I/Io) = e -αx = e -αl

Log(I/Io)=log(e -αl )=-αl log(e)=- αl

log(0.4343) Log(Io /I)=(0.4343) αl ,

α=2.302

Bandgap
The difference in energy between the valence band and conduction band of a material is
called bandgap.
The presence of bandgap as well as its size can help us to understand the electronic behaviour
of a material and distinguish electrical insulators, conductors and semiconductors.

And now for calculation of bandgap we will follow Tauc’s equation.

Formula used: 𝛼ℎ𝜈γ = 𝐴(ℎ𝜈 − 𝐸g)

where 𝛼 is the absorption

coefficient, h is the Plank’s constant
𝜈 is the frequency of the photon
𝐸g is the energy band
gap And A is a constant.
For Indirect allowed transition, we take 𝛾 = 1/2
Direct allowed transition 𝛾 = 2

PROCEDURE
First we had taken a Silicon substrate and cleaned it. Then we had grown a
thin film of Moo3 on the substrate with the help of physical vapour
deposition system(thermal evaporation).
Thin film growth had done in room temperature on that silicon substrate
and thickness was about 100 nm.
Gold(Au) ions were used for implantation with the help of low energy
negative ion beam facility.
The fluences that were done are 5 x1015and 5 x 1016 ions/cm2.
Then for optical characterisation we had done Diffused Reflectance
Spectroscopy with the help of UV-VIS photospectrometre and we
measured the absorbance data.
RESULTS
We have obtained the data for absorbance vs wavelength for the given sample and we shall
now plot the curves from which we shall find the band gap by using Tauc’s idea.

First we shall plot absorbance vs wavelength plot for the two fluences along with the
reference data.

1.4
Absorbance Vs Wavelength

1.2

1
Absorbance(a.u.)

0.8

0.6 5* 10-15
5* 10-16

0.4AS deposited

0.2
2003004005006007008009001000
wavelength(nm)

(Absorbance vs wavelength plot)

Now we shall plot the Tauc plot in order to calculate band gap for the reference data of
absorbance and for the two fluences.
And now for calculation of bandgap we will follow Tauc’s equation.

Formula used: 𝛼ℎ𝜈γ = 𝐴(ℎ𝜈 − 𝐸g)

where 𝛼 is the absorption

coefficient, h is the Plank’s constant
𝜈 is the frequency of the photon
𝐸g is the energy band
gap And A is a constant.
For Indirect allowed transition, we take 𝛾 = 1/2
Direct allowed transition 𝛾 = 2
 Here we have plotted (𝛼ℎ𝜈)γ vs energy.

The dotted line represents the trendline, over which the slope remains almost
constant.
The equation of the trendline is y = 1E+15x - 3E+15

At y = 0, x gives the value of the band gap 𝐸g

So, we extrapolate the trendline and find the band gap to be 3eV.
 The dotted line represents the trendline, over which the slope remains almost The
constant.
equation of the trendline is y = 1061.4x + 1429

At y = 0, x gives the value of the band gap 𝐸g

So, we extrapolate the trendline and find the band gap to be -1.34eV

Tauc Plot(5*10^(16)) for 𝛾=2

6E+15

5E+15 y= 5x - 7E+15
2E+1
(αhν)^(2)

4E+15

3E+15

2E+15

1E+15

0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Energy(eV)

The dotted line represents the trendline, over which the slope remains almost
constant.
The equation of the trendline is y =2E+15x - 7E+15

At y = 0, x gives the value of the band gap 𝐸g

So, we extrapolate the trendline and find the band gap to be 3.5 eV
 Tauc Plot(5*10^(16))for y=1/2
10000
9000
8000
7000 y = 1302.2x + 1579.2
(αhν)^(1/2)

6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Energy(eV)

The dotted line represents the trendline, over which the slope remains almost
constant.
The equation of the trendline is y = 1302.2x + 1579.2

At y = 0, x gives the value of the band gap 𝐸g

So, we extrapolate the trendline and find the band gap to be -1.2127 eV

Tauc plot (5*10^(15))for y=2

4.5E+15
4E+15
3.5E+15
3E+15 y = 1E+15x - 3E+15
2.5E+15
(αhν)^(2)

2E+15
1.5E+15
1E+15
5E+14
0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Energy(eV)

The dotted line represents the trendline, over which the slope remains almost
constant.
The equation of the trendline is y=1E+15x - 3E+15

At y = 0, x gives the value of the band gap 𝐸g

So, we extrapolate the trendline and find the band gap to be 3 eV

 Tauc plot (5*10^(15))for y=1/2
9000
8000
7000 y = 954.35x + 2742.2
6000
5000
(αhν)^(1/2)

4000
3000
2000
1000
0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Energy(eV)

The dotted line represents the trendline, over which the slope remains almost
constant.

The equation of the trendline is y =954.35x + 2742.2

At y = 0, x gives the value of the band gap 𝐸g

So, we extrapolate the trendline and find the band gap to be -2.87 eV

CONCLUSION:

By using the UV-VIS Photospectrometre device we precisely plotted the

absorbance data of our sample for two ion fluences 5 x1015and 5 x 1016
ions/cm2 and the bandgap is also calculated precisely.