Structural and optical properties of vacuum evaporated V2O5 thin films

Thin films of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) have been deposited on to well-cleaned glass substrates under a vacuum of 10−5 torr using 12A4 Hind Hivac coating unit. The thickness of the films was measured by the multiple beam interferometry technique and cross checked by using capacitance method. The structural, morphological and optical properties of deposited V2O5 films were determined by XRD, SEM and UV – vis analysis. XRD pattern indicates the amorphous nature of the film. Absorption co-efficient (α), extinction co-efficient (Kf) and refractive index were calculated from the optical transmission spectrum. The transmittance is found to decrease with the increase in thickness. The band gap of the film is found to decrease with increasing film thickness.