Synthesis of Bismuth Oxide Thin Films Deposited by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

In this work $Bi_2O_3$ thin films were deposited onto the Si (111) and soda lime glass substrates by the reactive direct current magnetron sputtering system using pure Bi as a sputtering target. The dependences of electro-optical characteristics of the films on the substrate type and temperature were investigated. Transmittance and reflectance of the $Bi_2O_3$ films were measured with ultraviolet and visible light spectrometer. It was found that the substrate temperature during deposition has a very strong influence on the phase components of thin films. The results indicate that the direct allowed transitions dominate in the films obtained in this work. For the direct allowed transitions the band gap energy is found to be about 1.98 eV and 2.2 eV. The reflectance of thin bismuth oxide film depends on the substrate. Small transparency of thin films grown on glass is more related to large reflectance than absorption. The reflectance spectra of the bismuth oxide thin films deposited on the Si substrates show higher quality of optical characteristics compared to the samples deposited on glass substrates.