Investigation of optical characteristics of the evaporated Ta2O5 thin films based on ellipsometry and spectroscopy

Abstract

The tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) thin films were prepared by the ion-assisted electron-beam evaporation system. With the fixed film thickness at 200 nm, the deposition conditions were performed based on oxygen flow rate the ion assistance during the film deposition. The prepared thin films were characterized by spectroscopic ellipsometry in order to determine their physical and optical properties. From the ellipsometric measurements, the physical structures of the thin films and the optical dispersions were constructed, and then analyzed for the results of film thickness and optical constants. The thin films were also measured by the UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometry for the optical transmission. The measured transmission was analyzed with the Swanepoel method, whose results also yielded the thickness and the refractive index. Finally, the thin films were examined by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to observe physical microstructures. This study explored the physical and optical analyses based on the spectroscopic ellipsometry and the spectrophotometry, with the confirmations from the SEM micrographs. The results from the analyses would be compared and thoroughly discussed.