Optical properties of CeO2 thin films

Cerium oxide (CeO2) thin films have been prepared by electron beam evaporation technique onto glass substrate at a pressure of about 6 × 10−6 Torr. The thickness of CeO2 films ranges from 140–180 nm. The optical properties of cerium oxide films are studied in the wavelength range of 200–850 nm. The film is highly transparent in the visible region. It is also observed that the film has low reflectance in the ultra-violet region. The optical band gap of the film is determined and is found to decrease with the increase of film thickness. The values of absorption coefficient, extinction coefficient, refractive index, dielectric constant, phase angle and loss angle have been calculated from the optical measurements. The X-ray diffraction of the film showed that the film is crystalline in nature. The crystallite size of CeO2 films have been evaluated and found to be small. The experimental d-values of the film agreed closely with the standard values.