Design and investigation of properties of nanocrystalline diamond optical planar waveguides

Diamond thin films have remarkable properties comparable with natural diamond. Because of these properties it is a very promising material for many various applications (sensors, heat sink, optical mirrors, chemical and radiation wear, cold cathodes, tissue engineering, etc.) In this paper we report about design, deposition and measurement of properties of optical planar waveguides fabricated from nanocrystalline diamond thin films. The nanocrystalline diamond planar waveguide was deposited by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and the structure of the deposited film was studied by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The design of the presented planar waveguides was realized on the bases of modified dispersion equation and was schemed for 632.8 nm, 964 nm, 1 310 nm and 1 550 nm wavelengths. Waveguiding properties were examined by prism coupling technique and it was found that the diamond based planar optical element guided one fundamental mode for all measured wavelengths. Values of the refractive indices of our NCD thin film measured at various wavelengths were almost the same as those of natural diamond

The hydrogen plasma doping of ZnO thin films and nanoparticles

The optical absorptance and photoluminescence studies has been applied on the hydrogen and oxygen plasma treated, nominally undoped ZnO thin films and aligned nanocolumns grown on the nucleated glass substrate by the hydrothermal process in an oil bath containing a flask with ZnO nutrient solution. The localized defect states at 2.3 eV below the optical absorption edge were detected by photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS) in a broad spectral range from near UV to near IR. The optical absorptance spectroscopy shows that hydrogen doping increases free electron concentration changing ZnO to be electrically conductive (hydrogen doping).\

The photoluminescence and optical absorptance of plasma hydrogenated nanocrystalline ZnO thin films

We have developed the technology of the deposition of the nominally undoped ZnO nanocrystalline thin films by DC reactive magnetron sputtering of Zn target in the gas mixture of argon and oxygen plasma. We have optimized the photoluminescence spectroscopy for measuring optically scattering thin layers with the high sensitivity, precise sample positioning and very low influence of the scattered excitation light. Here we present the latest results on the enhancement of the photoluminescence of the nanocrystalline ZnO thin films after plasma hydrogenation. The photoluminescence in near UV region has been enhanced whereas the deep defect related photoluminescence has been significantly decreased. We found good room temperature stability of the plasma hydrogenated ZnO nanocrystals in air, but fast degradation at elevated temperature\

Plasma hydrogenation of hydrothermally grown ZnO micropods

The hydrothermally grown ZnO micropods have been placed on grounded stainless-steel holder and exposed to an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) monitored in-situ by optical emission spectroscopy (OES). OES shows the immediate release of oxygen during Ar ion bombardment. The prolonged exposure to hydrogen plasma leads to deterioration of the optical properties as well. The exposure, rf power and hydrogen pressure have been optimized to enhance UV-photoluminescence peak at the wavelength 384 nm related to surface bounded excitons and reduce the defect-related photoluminescence in red spectral range. The strong UV photoluminescence appears just after 1 minute of plasma hydrogenation in a radio frequency plasma discharge with power density 40 W/dm3 and hydrogen pressure 17 Pa

Emergence of dark ZnO nanorods by hydrogen plasma treatment

We employed a custom-built inductively coupled plasma (ICP) 13.56 MHz reactor with up to 300 W RF discharge power. Hydrothermally grown ZnO nanorods were exposed to the ICP plasma with a mixture of hydrogen and argon for up to 30 min, followed in-situ by plasma oxidation. Plasma properties were monitored by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and by measuring the self-bias potential of the stainless steel sample holder separated from the ground by a blocking capacitor. The exciton-related UV photoluminescence of ZnO nanorods and optical absorption increases significantly after the plasma treatment. We attribute it to the complex changes of ZnO surface electronic states that also give rise to its black color visually

The intrinsic submicron ZnO thin films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

The DC reactive magnetron sputtering of metallic target in oxide atmosphere is a simple method of depositing the intrinsic (undoped) nanocrystalline layers of metal oxides. We have optimized the deposition of the intrinsic ZnO thin films with submicron thickness 50-500 nm on fused silica glass substrates and investigated the localized defect states below the optical absorption edge down to 0.01 % using photothermal deflection spectroscopy from UV to IR. We have shown that the defect density, the optical absorptance and the related optical attenuation in planar waveguides can be significantly reduced by annealing in air at 400 °C

Photothermal and photocurrent spectroscopy of wide band gap nanocrystalline semiconductors

Optical spectroscopy belongs to the most important methods applied to characterize thin films. Photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS) as well as the dual beam photocurrent (DBP) spectroscopy in near ultraviolet (200-400 nm), visible (400-700 nm) and near infrared regions (700-2000 nm) are particularly useful for study of the wide band gap semiconductors deposited as thin layers on glass substrates. In our laboratory we focus on optically transparent thin films such as nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) or ZnO nanostructures with size too small to be visualized in optical microscope and the optical absorption edge in the ultraviolet region. In this contribution we summarize how to evaluate the optical absorption edge and the defects in the band gap of these wide band gap nanocrystalline semiconductors

Experience with optical measurements of thin films

In this article I summarize my experience with measurement of the optical properties of thin layers. Article has three parts. The first part focuses on the measurement of optical spectra in the medium infrared region, in the second part I discuss the optical spectra in the near ultraviolet, visible and near infrared region and in the third part I discuss the optical spectroscopy done with the help of the optical microscope

Optical properties of thin films measured by PDS

Description of the photothermal deflection (PDS) spectrometer used in the Institute of Physics of the ASCR. Applicatons include the optical absorption in thin conductive oxides and thin films solar cells

Optical characterization methods in the solar cell research

Optical spectroscopy isone of the most important methods used to characterize thin films and solar cells. Here we discusse the Constant Photocurrent Method (CPM) a Fourier Transform Photocurrent Spectroscopy (FTPS), Photothermal Deflection Spectroscopy (PDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and optical spectroscopy with microscopic resolution