Optical Properties of RF-Sputtered a-SiGe:H:O Alloys

Abstract

ABSTRACTAmorphous thin films of SixGe1-x:O (x = 0.70) were prepared by RF-sputtering at several substrate temperatures. The structural properties of these films were studied by IR spectroscopy and revealed features characteristic of hydrogen and/or oxygen bonded to silicon. The optical constants (n,k) were determined from reflection and transmission measurements at near-normal incidence for photon energies in the range of 1 eV and 2.6 eV. The optical gap was derived from the Taue plot and correlated with the composition of the samples. The increase of hydrogen and/or oxygen decreases the value of the refractive index and increases the optical gap.