Thickness dependent thermal and optical properties of plasma polymerized N-benzylaniline thin films

Abstract

Thermally stable, smooth and highly transparent plasma polymerized (N-benzylaniline) thin films are deposited onto glass substrates under ac (50 Hz) glow discharge plasma. Thermal stability and optical absorbance of the films are very high, indicate conjugation in the films, which depends on their thickness. Other optical parameters such as band energy gaps, steepness, Urbach energy, dielectric constant, etc. are also observed to vary with film thickness. The small value of extinction coefficient and high value of refractive index confirms that the films are very smooth highly transparent, and therefore suitable for anti-reflecting coating and infrared applications.

Keywords:

• Band gap
• N-benzylaniline
• plasma polymerization
• refractive index
• thermo-gravimetric analysis
• UV–visible spectroscopy

Acknowledgments

The financial support provided by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology for this research work is gratefully acknowledged. The authors are thankful to the authority of the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dhaka-1205 for providing the laboratory facilities to record the UV-Vis spectroscopy and TGA-DTA traces.

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts of interest.