Effect of substrate temperature and oxygen partial pressure on microstructure and optical properties of pulsed laser deposited yttrium oxide thin films

► The microstructural and optical properties of yttria films as a function of wide substrate temperature and oxygen partial pressure range have been reported for the first time for the films prepared by pulsed laser deposition. ► The X-ray diffraction results indicated that the films were polycrystalline yttria films with (2 2 2) preferred orientation. ► Yttria thin films have good transparency of ∼90% in the wavelength range of 400-800 nm for the films deposited at 873 K and 0.2 Pa oxygen partial pressure. ► The band gap increases with increase in substrate temperature and decrease with increase in oxygen partial pressure as a consequence of increasing crystallite size.