Structural, mechanical and opto-thermal properties of non-crystalline SbxOy thin films

SbxOy oxides thin films have been prepared on glass substrates by a heat treatment of Sb thermal evaporated thin films in air atmosphere. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the films annealed at Tr =550 degrees C are well constituted of the Sb2O4 orthorhombic phase with elements oriented preferentially towards (004) direction. In the same way, from the optical transmission T(lambda) and reflection R(lambda) curves, the study of the absorption coefficient of these films versus incident energy revealed that the value of the band gap energy of Sb2O4 oxide is of the order of 3.9 eV. Mechanical and opto-thermal original investigations confirmed the annealing temperature-related enhancement of the fabricated layers. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.