Abstract

Effect Of Growth Temperature On The Optical Properties Of Pulsed-Laser Deposited MoO3 Thin Films

Author(s): C.M.Julien, C.V. Ramana, O.M. Hussain

In the present work, the effect of growth temperature on the optical properties of MoO3 thin films was investigated. MoO3 thin films were produced by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) over a wide range of growth temperature, 303-773 K, and studied their structural and optical characteristics. It was found that the growth temperature strongly influences the surface morphology, local atomic structure, and optical properties of PLD MoO3 thin films. The compositional stability was found to be well maintained up to a temperature on the order of 673 K, at which point the formation of compositional defects introduces structural disorder and changes in the optical characteristics. The decrease in the optical band gap associated with changes in external morphology of MoO3 thin films grown at higher temperatures are attributed mainly to the structural transformations and formation of oxygen vacancies.