Characterization of thin dielectric films containing nanocrystals or nanoparticles

Abstract

In this project, the optical properties of NiO thin film, which is embedded with nanocrystals Ni, is investigated. Three Ni-rich NiO thin film samples which are synthesized by different sputtering power and duration are granted to this project. The Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE) was employed to obtain the ellipsometry angles for spectral fitting purpose. The SE measurements were carried out at three incident angle (65o, 70o, 75o) for each sample from the spectral range of 250nm to 1100nm. Besides that, the dielectric dispersion models used in this project are Tauc-Lorentz model and Forouhi-Bloomer model. The fitting parameters are shown in this project and the spectral fittings obtained were analyzed for qualification of band gap and film thickness extraction purpose. Hence, the physic behind the optical constant is elaborated and the performances for the two models are compared.