Optical properties of TiO2 thin films deposited on polycarbonate by ion beam assisted evaporation

TiO2 thin films were deposited on polycarbonate (PC) substrate by ion beam assisted evaporation. The grain size increased with the ion anode voltage and film thickness. The TiO2 thin films had an amorphous structure. Moiré deflectometry was used to measure the nonlinear refractive indices of TiO2 thin films on PC substrates. The nonlinear refractive index was measured to be of the order of 10− 8 cm2 W− 1 and a change in refractive index was of the order of 10− 5. Dense TiO2 films exhibited high linear refractive indices, red-shift of the optical absorbance, and absorbance in the near-IR region.