Photochromic response of encapsulated oxygen-containing yttrium hydride thin films
| Autor: | Tuan T. Tran, Daniel Primetzhofer, Sigurbjörn M. Aðalsteinsson, Dmitrii Moldarev, Marcos V. Moro, Max Wolff, Ayan Samanta |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
010302 applied physics
Condensed Matter - Materials Science Materials science Ion beam Diffusion barrier Hydride Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) FOS: Physical sciences Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) Physics - Applied Physics Condensed Matter Physics 01 natural sciences Photochromism Chemical engineering Sputtering 0103 physical sciences General Materials Science Nanometre Thin film Layer (electronics) |
| Popis: | Photochromic oxygen$-$containing yttrium$-$hydride thin films are synthesized by argon$-$magnetron sputtering on microscope slides. Some of them are encapsulated with a thin, transparent and non$-$photochromic diffusion-barrier layer of either Al2O3 or Si3N4. Ion beam-based methods prove that these protective diffusion barriers are stable and free from pinholes, with thicknesses of only a few tens of nanometers. Optical spectrophotometry reveals that the photochromic response and relaxation time for both $-$ protected and unprotected $-$ samples are almost identical. Ageing effects in the unprotected films lead to degradation of the photochromic performance (self$-$delamination) while the photochromic response for the encapsulated films is stable. Our results show that the environment does not play a decisive role for the photochromic process and encapsulation of oxygen containing rare-earth hydride films with transparent and non-organic thin diffusion barrier layers provides long-time stability of the films, mandatory for applications as photochromic coatings on e.g., smart windows. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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