Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Microstructural, optical and gas sensing characterization of laser ablated nanostructured ceria thin films

  • Published:
Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ceria thin films are deposited on quartz substrates at various substrate temperatures (923–1073 K) with optimized deposition parameters by using pulsed laser deposition technique. Prepared thin films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and transmission UV–Vis spectroscopy to study the effect of substrate temperature. The XRD studies reveal the polycrystalline nature of CeO2 thin films. The preferred orientation is observed along (111) plane. The atomic force microscopy studies show the formation of uniform and dense nanocrystallites with smooth surface morphology. The RMS roughness of the thin film is increased with the increase of substrate temperature. The formation of CeO2 with cubic structure is confirmed with Raman peak appeared at 463 cm−1 due to the F2g active mode. The optical transmission studies reveal that the optical band gap decrease with increasing the substrate temperature. Acetone gas sensing characterization has been carried out at elevated temperatures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. N.V. Skorodumova, R. Ahuja, S.I. Simak, I.A. Abrikosov, B. Johanson, B.I. Lundqvist, Electronic, bonding, and optical properties of CeO2 and Ce2O3 from first principles. Phys. Rev. B 64, 115108–115111 (2001). doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.64.115108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. E. Wuilloud, B. Delley, W.D. Schneider, Y. Baer, Spectroscopic evidence for localized and extended f-symmetry states in CeO2. Phys. Rev. Lett. 53, 202–205 (1984). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.53.202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. S. Yabe, T. Sato, Cerium oxide for sunscreen cosmetics. J. Solid State Chem. 171, 7–11 (2003). doi:10.1016/S0022-4596(02)00139-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. T. Chikyow, S.M. Bedair, L. Tye, N.A. El-Masry, Reaction and regrowth control of CeO2 on Si(111) surface for the silicon-on-insulator structure. Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 1030–1031 (1994). doi:10.1063/1.113011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. M. Yoshimoto, K. Shimozono, T. Maeda, T. Ohnishi, M. Kumagai, T. Chikyow, O. Ishiyama, M. Shinohara, H. Koinuma, Room-temperature epitaxial growth of CeO2 thin films on Si(111) substrates for fabrication of sharp oxide/silicon interface. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 34, L688–L690 (1995). doi:10.1143/JJAP.34.L688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. L. Cossarutto, N. Chaoui, E. Millon, J.F. Muller, J. Lambert, M. Alnot, CeO2 thin films on Si(100) obtained by pulsed laser deposition. Appl. Surf. Sci. 126, 352–355 (1998). doi:10.1016/S0169-4332(98)00188-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. G. Balakrishnan, C.M. Raghavan, C. Ghosh, R. Divakar, E. Mohandas, J.Il Song, S.I. Bae, T.G. Kim, X-ray diffraction, Raman and photoluminescence studies of nanocrystalline cerium oxide thin films. Ceram. Int. 39, 8327–8333 (2013). doi:10.1016/j.ceramint.2013.03.103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. I. Hotavy, V. Rehacek, P. Siciliano, S. Capone, L. Spiess, Sensing characteristics of NiO thin films as NO2 gas sensor. Thin Solid Films 418, 9–15 (2002). doi:10.1016/S0040-6090(02)00579-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. L. Dvorak, M. Kovar, S. Cerny, A new approach to adsorption microcalorimetry based on a LiTaO3 pyroelectric temperature sensor and a pulsed molecular beam. Thermochim. Acta 245, 163–171 (1994). doi:10.1016/0040-6031(94)85076-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. J. Atkinson, A. Cranny, C.S.D. Cloke, A low-cost oxygen sensor fabricated as a screen-printed semiconductor device suitable for unheated operation at ambient temperatures. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 47, 171–180 (1998). doi:10.1016/S0925-4005(98)00020-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. K. Arshak, O. Korostynska, γ-Radiation sensing properties of cerium oxide based thick film structures. Sens. Actuators A 115, 196–201 (2004). doi:10.1016/j.sna.2004.01.033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. A. Tataroglu, S. Antindal, M.M. Bulbul, 60Co γ irradiation effects on the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of Al/SiO2/p-Si (MIS) Schottky diodes. Nucl. Instrum. Mechods Phys. Res. Sect. A 568, 863–868 (2006). doi:10.1016/j.nima.2006.08.047

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. N. Özer, Optical properties and electrochromic characterization of sol–gel deposited ceria films. Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 68, 391–400 (2001). doi:10.1016/S0927-0248(00)00371-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. M.T. Ta, D. Briand, Y. Guhel, J. Bernard, J.C. Pesant, B. Boudart, Growth and structural characterization of cerium oxide thin films realized on Si(111) substrates by on-axis r.f. magnetron sputtering. Thin Solid Films 517, 450–452 (2008). doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2008.08.059

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. B. Elidrissi, M. Addou, M. Regragui, C. Monty, A. Bougrine, A. Kachouane, Structural and optical properties of CeO2 thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis. Thin Solid Films 379, 23–27 (2000). doi:10.1016/S0040-6090(00)01404-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. A. Ramirez-Duverger, A.R. Ruiz-Salvador, M.P. Hernandez-Sanchez, M.F. Garcia Sanchez, G. Rodriguez-Gattorno, CeO2 thin films by flash evaporation. Solid State Ion. 96, 89–93 (1997). doi:10.1016/S0167-2738(96)00621-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. G. Hass, J.B. Ramsey, R. Thun, Optical properties and structure of cerium dioxide films. J. Opt. Am. 48, 324–327 (1958)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. S. Kanakaraju, S. Mohan, A.K. Sood, Optical and structural properties of reactive ion beam sputter deposited CeO2 films. Thin Solid Films 305, 191–195 (1997). doi:10.1016/S0040-6090(97)00081-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. T. Chikyow, S.M. Bedair, L. Tye, N.A. El-Marsy, Reaction and re growth control of CeO2 on Si(111) surface for the silicon-on-insulator structure. Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 1030–1032 (1994). doi:10.1063/1.113011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. I. Porqueras, C. Person, C. Corbella, M. Vives, A. Pinyol, E. Bertran, Characteristics of e-beam deposited electrochromic CeO2 thin films. Solid State Ion. 165, 131–137 (2003). doi:10.1016/j.ssi.2003.08.025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. J. Niinisto, N. Petrova, M. Putkonen, L. Niinisto, K. Arstila, T. Sajavaara, Gadolinium oxide thin films by atomic layer deposition. J. Cryst. Growth 285, 191–200 (2005). doi:10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2005.08.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. K.D. Develos, M. Kusunoki, M. Mukaida, S. Ohshima, Effect of deposition rate on the surface morphology of CeO2 films deposited by pulsed laser deposition. Phys. C 320, 21–30 (1999). doi:10.1016/S0921-4534(99)00323-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. R.P. Wang, S.H. Pan, Y.L. Zhou, G.W. Zhou, N.N. Liu, K. Xie, H.B. Lu, Fabrication and characteristics of CeO2 films on Si(100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. J. Cryst. Growth 200, 505–509 (1999). doi:10.1016/S0022-0248(99)00058-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. G. Balakrishnan, S. Tripura sundari, P. Kuppusami, P. Chandra Mohan, M.P. Srinivasan, E. Mohandas, V. Ganesan, D. Sastikumar, A study of microstructural and optical properties of nanocrystalline ceria thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition. Thin Solid Films 519, 2520–2526 (2011). doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2010.12.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. B. Joseph, P.K. Manoj, V.K. Vaidyan, Studies on preparation and characterization of indium doped zinc oxide films by chemical spray deposition. Bull. Mater. Sci. 28, 487–493 (2005). doi:10.1007/BF02711242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. H.C. Ong, A.X.E. Zhu, G.T. Du, Dependence of the excitonic transition energies and mosaicity on residual strain in ZnO thin films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 941–943 (2002). doi:10.1063/1.1448660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. S. Lalitha, R. Sathyamoorthy, S. Senthilarasu, A. Subbarayan, K. Natarajan, Characterization of CdTe thin film-dependence of structural and optical properties on temperature and thickness. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 82, 187–199 (2004). doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2004.01.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. B. Elidrissi, M. Addou, M. Regragui, C. Monty, A. Bougrine, A. Kachouane, Structural and optical properties of CeO2 thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis. Thin Solid Films 379, 23–27 (2000). doi:10.1016/S0040-6090(00)01404-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. H.R. Huff, D.C. Gilmer, High dielectric constant materials: VLSI MOSFET applications (Springer, New York, 2005), p. 710

    Book  Google Scholar 

  30. P. Patsalas, S. Logothetidis, C. Metaxa, Optical performance of nanocrystalline transparent ceria films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 466–468 (2002). doi:10.1063/1.1494458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Salwan K. Al-Ani, Int. J. Appl. Phys. 4(1), 17–23 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  32. M.S. Al-Robaee, K. Narsimha Rao, S. Mohan, Influence of substrate temperature on the properties of oxygen-ion-assisted deposited CeO2 films. J. Appl. Phys. 71, 2380–2386 (1992). doi:10.1063/1.351093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. R.P. Netterfield, W.G. Sainty, P.J. Martin, S.H. Sie, Properties of CeO2 thin films prepared by oxygen-ion-assisted deposition. Appl. Opt. 24, 2267–2272 (1985). doi:10.1364/AO.24.002267

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

One of the author M. V. Ramana Reddy thanks DST PURSE (O.U) for providing financial assistance for this work. One of the author P. Nagaraju would like to thank Dr. Vasant Sathe, Dr. V. R. Reddy, Dr. V. Ganesan, Dr. U. P. Deshpande, IUC Indore, for providing facilities and their valuable suggestions. They also express sincere gratitude to Ch. Gopal Reddy, Chairman, Dr. A. Raji Reddy, Director, CMR Technical Campus for their encouragement during the present work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CMR Technical Campus, Hyderabad, India

    P. Nagaraju & Y. Vijayakumar

  2. Osmania University, Hyderabad, TS, India

    M. V. Ramana Reddy

  3. UGC-DAE-IUC-Indore, Indore, India

    D. M. Phase & R. J. Choudary

Authors
  1. P. Nagaraju
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Y. Vijayakumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. M. Phase
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R. J. Choudary
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M. V. Ramana Reddy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Nagaraju.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nagaraju, P., Vijayakumar, Y., Phase, D.M. et al. Microstructural, optical and gas sensing characterization of laser ablated nanostructured ceria thin films. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 27, 651–658 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-3801-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-3801-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation