Oxygen plasma treatment of TeO2—B2O3 (boro-tellurite) thin films

Abstract

In this study, boro-tellurite glasses with a composition of 75TeO2–25B2O3 (mol. %) (TB) were synthesized using a traditional melt-quenching method. The glasses were subsequently deposited as thin films using the thermionic vacuum arc system, and a subset of the samples underwent treatment with a low-pressure cold oxygen plasma system, resulting in the formation of the “TBO (boro-tellurite treated by oxygen plasma)” thin films. The structural and morphological properties of the TB and TBO thin films were characterized using x-ray diffraction analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The optical properties of the thin film samples were evaluated using ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry in the range of 300–800 nm. The resistivity of the thin films was measured using the four-probe Van der Pauw method. It was found that the TB thin films had an amorphous structure with some crystalline formations, whereas the TBO thin films were similar to the bulk boro-tellurite glasses described in the literature, with no detectable crystalline formations. Both TB and TBO thin films exhibited homogenous and amorphous surfaces. Furthermore, the electronic structure of the thin films has changed after oxygen plasma treatment.