Correlation between structure and optical properties in low emissivity coatings for solar thermal collectors

We have investigated the relation between the structure and morphology of TiN coatings with their optical properties. Samples were deposited by magnetron sputtering and, by changing the deposition parameters, different textures and chemical compositions can be obtained as measured by X-ray diffraction and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy respectively. The transmittance in the visible range, measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry, and the emittance, derived from reflectance in the far infrared range as measured by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy have been related to the nitrogen atomic content and the preferred crystalline orientations present in the TiN coatings. The visible transmittance of the coatings was found not to be dependent on the preferential orientation, while the emittance clearly improves with increasing the film thickness and the presence of both (111) and (200) crystal orientations.