Microstructural and optical investigations of Ce-doped barium titanate thin films by FTIR and spectroscopic ellipsometry

Abstract

(BaTiO₃)_{1− x} (CeO₂) _x (with x = 0, 1, 3, 5.7 and 16 at.%) thin films were prepared by electron beam evaporation method. According to X-ray diffraction, nanosized and amorphous Ce-doped barium titanate thin films were obtained. The crystallinity diminished as Ce content increased. The increase in the Ce slightly shifts the absorption peaks at 433–450 and 416–424 cm⁻¹ to higher wavenumbers. A two-layer model was used to describe the experimental ellipsometric data. The Bruggeman effective medium approximation (BEMA) was used to describe the surface roughness layer and the Cauchy dispersion relation was used to describe the main Ce-doped barium titanate layer. The refractive index and the extinction coefficient were found to increase with increasing Ce content; however, the optical band gap decreased with increasing Ce content. The accurate determination of the optical constants of Ce-doped barium titanate thin films may favor them in the applications of optical thin film devices.

Keywords:

• Ce-doped barium titanate
• FTIR
• ellipsometric examination

Acknowledgments

Professor Dr. M. El-Hagary is acknowledged for his technical support. This work is supported by SABIC Company & Deanship of Scientific research at Qassim University, Saudi Arabia, under contract no. SR-S-010-10.