Abstract

The effect of ultraviolet irradiation on the optical properties, thickness, and chemical composition of silicon oxide films prepared by evaporation of silicon monoxide in the presence of oxygen was studied. The films were prepared at deposition rates of 2 Å/sec to 6 Å/sec and at pressures of 7−9 × 10⁻⁵ torr of oxygen. Ultraviolet irradiation with quartz mercury lamps eliminated the initially high ultraviolet absorptance of such films completely and changed their refractive index, thickness, and weight by as much as 10%. Two completely different effects were found to be responsible for the changes in the films caused by ultraviolet treatments: (1) ultraviolet irradiation rearranges the oxygen gettered during the evaporation process and forms well-defined silicon oxide with low ultraviolet absorptance and (2) treatment in air or oxygen increases the oxygen content in the deposited film.

© 1965 Optical Society of America

Increasing the Far-Ultraviolet Reflectance of Silicon-Oxide-Protected Aluminum Mirrors by Ultraviolet Irradiation*

Alan P. Bradford and Georg Hass
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 53(9) 1096-1100 (1963)

Solar Absorptivity and Thermal Emissivity of Aluminum Coated with Silicon Oxide Films Prepared by Evaporation of Silicon Monoxide

A. P. Bradford, G. Hass, J. B. Heaney, and J. J. Triolo
Appl. Opt. 9(2) 339-344 (1970)

The Change in Thickness and Other Optical Properties of Ultraviolet Irradiated Silicon Oxide Films

I. J. Hodgkinson
Appl. Opt. 9(7) 1577-1586 (1970)

Optical Properties of Silicon Monoxide in the Wavelength Region from 0.24 to 14.0 Microns*

Georg Hass and Calvin D. Salzberg
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 44(3) 181-187 (1954)

Effect of high-energy electron-beam irradiation on the optical properties of ion-beam-sputtered silicon oxynitride thin films

Shivaprasad Karanth, Ganesh H. Shanbhogue, and C. L. Nagendra
Appl. Opt. 44(29) 6186-6192 (2005)