Ion beam induced modifications in electron beam evaporated aluminum oxide thin films

Al2O3 thin films find wide applications in optoelectronics, sensors, tribology etc. In the present work, Al2O3 films prepared by electron beam evaporation technique are irradiated with 100 MeV swift Si7+ ions for the fluence in the range 1 × 1012 to 1 × 1013 ions cm−2 and the structural properties are studied by glancing angle X-ray diffraction. It shows a single diffraction peak at 38.2° which indicates the γ-phase of Al2O3. Further, it is observed that as the fluence increases up to 1 × 1013 ions cm−2 the diffraction peak intensity decreases indicating amorphization. Surface morphology studies by atomic force microscopy show mean surface roughness of 34.73 nm and it decreases with increase in ion fluence. A strong photoluminescence (PL) emission with peak at 442 nm along with shoulder at 420 nm is observed when the samples are excited with 326 nm light. The PL emission is found to increase with increase in ion fluence and the results are discussed in detail.