Impact of Mole Concentration on the Structural and Optical Properties of Nebulized Spray Coated Cerium Oxide Thin Films

Authors

R. Suresh, Department of Physics, SRMV College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.Follow
V. Ponnuswamy, Department of Physics, SRMV College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.Follow
R. Mariappan, Department of Physics, Athiyaman College of Engineering, Hosur, Tamil Nadu, India.Follow

Abstract

Cerium oxide thin films are deposited on glass substrates with various mole concentrations by nebulized spray pyrolysis technique. The films are characterized for, XRD, SEM, AFM, FTIR, PL, UV-ViS and XPS. All films exhibit a cubic fluorite structure with preferred orientations along (2 0 0) direction with an average size of 30 nm. The films exhibit dense, smooth and crack-free spherical like tiny particles composed of nanostructures with some uneven size 52 nm. It also exhibits nicely separated conical columnar microstructure. FT-IR analysis confirm the presence of (Ce=O) terminal stretching and phonon band (Ce-O) of metal oxide network. PL analysis indicates the presence of indigo and yellow emission in the visible region centered on ~425 and ~579 nm respectively. UV-ViS spectra reveal that the films are transparent (60 %) in the visible region. Optical parameters like refractive index, optical conductivity and band gap are calculated for different mole concentrations. XPS analysis reveals the existence of Ce, O and C and the dominant occurrence of Ce4+ rather than Ce3+ in the films.

Recommended Citation

Suresh, R.; Ponnuswamy, V.; and Mariappan, R. (2015) "Impact of Mole Concentration on the Structural and Optical Properties of Nebulized Spray Coated Cerium Oxide Thin Films," International Journal of Thin Film Science and Technology: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , PP -.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.aaru.edu.jo/ijtfst/vol4/iss1/5