Optical Properties Of Thin

Films
JAWIRIA ALI
M. PHIL 1ST SEM
Content

 Introduction
 Optical properties of metals, semiconductors and
dielectrics
 Properties of optical film materials
 Multilayer optical film applications
Introduction:
Thin film

 Thin films are widely used in the optical devices as mirror coatings,
antireflection coatings, interference filters, absorption filters, polarisers, optical
and thermal detectors, etc.
 The considerable theoretical and experimental investigations on the optical
behaviour of thin films deal primarily with optical reflections, transmission and
absorption properties and their relation to optical constants of the films.
 The optical constants are the refractive index n, absorption index k and the
absorption coefficient a.
 As a result of these studies complex multilayer optical device systems with
remarkable reflection, antireflection and interference have emerged for both
research and industrial applications.
Introduction

 The absorption studies have thrown light on the electronic structure of

solids, their degeneracy, energy band gap, lattice bonding and other
information.
 The basic optical properties of semiconductors result from the electronic
excitation in crystals when an electromagnetic wave is incident on them.
 The optical constants have been evaluated in order to correlate them to
the electronic band structure.
Optical properties of metals and
mirrors

 The large density of empty, closely spaced electron energy states above
the Fermi level in a metal plays an important role in influencing its optical
properties.
 Incident photons over a wide wavelength range are readily absorbed by
conduction-band electrons.
 These excited electrons move to higher energy levels where they undergo
collisions with lattice ions and the extra energy is dissipated in the form of
phonons.
 The lattice is thus heated and we speak of absorption.
 Alternatively, if the probability of colliding with an ion is small, the electron
will emit a photon as it drops back to a lower energy level.
Continued

 This results in the strongly reflected beam exhibited by metals in the visible
and infrared region.
 The characteristic color of some metals is due to the preferential
absorption of some portion of the visible spectrum.
 In gold the green portion is absorbed and the metal assumes the
coloration of the reflected red and yellow light.
 Silver and aluminum reflect all portions of the visible spectrum and
therefore appear to have a white color.
 The optical properties of thin films are somewhat different from those of
bulk metals.
Optical effects in dielectrics

 Dielectric materials employed in optical coating applications include

fluorides (e.g., MgF,, CeF,) oxides (e.g., Al2O3, TiO2, SiO2) sulfides (e.g., ZnS,
CdS) and assorted compounds (e.g., ZnSe, ZnTe).
 Bonding characteristics ranging from ionic to covalent are represented in
these materials.
 An essential common feature of dielectric optical materials is their very low
absorption (α < 103/cm) in some relevant portion of the spectrum; in this
region they are essentially transparent (e.g., fluorides and oxides in the
visible and infrared, chalcogenides in the infrared)
 High refractive indices are associated with large ionic polarizabilities,
which increase with the size of the ion.
 In glasses and cubic crystals, n is independent of crystallographic directions. In other
crystal systems, n is large in close-packed directions.
 Compounds with predominant covalent bonding have higher refractive indices than
ionically bound solids. For example, in order of increasing degree of covalent bonding
n(ZnCl2)= 1.68, n(ZnO) = 2.08, n(ZnS) = 2.37, n(ZnSe) = 2.57, and n(ZnTe) = 3.56.
 The excellent transmission of dielectric materials in the visible region of the spectrum is
terminated at short wavelengths with the onset of the ultraviolet absorption edge. The
critical radiation wavelength λc at which this occurs is given by the familiar equation
λ = hc/E,
or
λ (pm) = 1.24/Eg (eV).
 At long wavelength the high optical transmission is once again limited, this
time by absorption due to the vibration of lattice ions in resonance with
the incident radiation.
Optical effects in semiconductors

 The most prominent feature is the rapid decrease in absorption at the critical or
cut-off wavelength λc.
 Here as in dielectrics the magnitude of the energy gap between the valence
and conduction band governs the value of λc.
 For wavelengths larger than λc , semiconductors are essentially transparent
because no mechanisms exist to excite electron transitions.
 However, for wavelengths shorter than λc, electrons can be stimulated into the
conduction band.
 In addition, the generated free carriers can now absorb quanta of energy and
occupy excited levels in the continuum of conduction-band states.
 Semiconductors then behave like metals and are highly reflective.
Optical properties of thin metal films

 Bulk metals are opaque for the light. This is due to the high concentration
of free charged carriers in the metals.
 However, in thin films, metals begin behave in a different way. Their
electrical and optical properties begin to depend on the frequency of the
incident electromagnetic wave (light).
 These films are beginning to be transparent and take on some new
properties such as increased transparency at certain frequencies or
frequency of extremal absorption dependence on the size and shape of
the islands in case of extremely thin metal films.
Optical properties of thin metal films

Fig. 1. Transmittance of very thin noble

metals films.
 As shown, thin films of these metals are
transparent at thickness of 2-6 nm and
their characteristics do not look
monotonous. They have a maximum in
the visible range depending only on the
type of material. Thin Ag films have this
maximum at λ=350 nm, thin Au films
have the maximum at λ=500 nm and Cu
thin films have the maximum at λ=600
nm. This maximum has a constant place
in the spectrum and is not dependent on
the film thickness. This is illustrated by
figure 2.
3 5 6
Optical properties of thin metal films

Fig. 2. Transmittance of thin gold films

deposited by thermal evaporation.
 All thin films of gold deposited by
thermal evaporation method have a
transmittance maximum at λ=500 nm,
however at longer wavelength they
behave differently.
 One can see that more thin films have a
transmittance minimum which depends
on the film’s thickness.
 Moreover, the location of this minimum is
associated with the film thickness and
disappears at the transition to a
continuous film.
Optical properties of thin
semiconducting films

 The effect of the film thickness on the optical properties of air annealed
CuInS2 thin films was analyzed.
 The optical reflectance and transmittance spectra were investigated in
the wavelength range 300-1800 nm.
 The optical reflectance of these films varied over the range of 20-30%.
Also, the transmittance increased with a decrease in the film thickness.
 Applications

 Anti-reflection coatings
 Whenever light travels between two interfaces of different refractive index,
some of the light is reflected.
 These reflections form flare images.
 The coating of optical surfaces with antireflection coatings has resolved this
problem.
 The antireflection coatings should be applied to optical surfaces containing
germanium, silicon or materials with high refractive index.
 Thin film solar cells
 Mass-production is simple and potentially cheaper to manufacture than
crystalline-based solar cells.
 Can be made flexible, which opens up many new potential applications.
 High temperatures and shading have less impact on solar panel
performance.
 Optical filters
An optical filter is a device that
selectively transmits light of different
wavelengths, usually implemented as a
glass plane or plastic device in
the optical path, which are either dyed in
the bulk or have interference coatings.
Optical filters can be designed to
transmit, block, or reflect light at any
wavelength range from the UV to the IR.
 THIN FILM BATTERIES
 Unlike typical batteries, thin film batteries are all solid-state.
 In many cases they can be made flexible.
 They can be manufactured using normal thin film deposition techniques.
Thin film batteries

 Cathode materials are normally metal oxides that are deposited as a film
by various methods like pulsed laser deposition, magnetron sputtering,
CVD, Sol-gel processing.
 LiPON, lithium phosphorus oxynitride, is an amorphous glassy material used
as an electrolyte material in thin film flexible batteries.
 Layers of LiPON are deposited over the cathode material at ambient
temperatures by RF magnetron sputtering.
 This forms the solid electrolyte used for ion conduction between anode
and cathode.
 THIN FILM TRANSISTORS
 TFT is made by depositing thin films on semiconductor.
 A common substrate is glass since the primary application of TFT’s are
Liquid Crystal Displays.
 OPTICAL COATING
 An optical coating is one or more thin layers of material deposited on an
optical component such as a lens or mirror, which alters the way in which
the optic reflects and transmits light.