DOI: 10.1615/ICHMT.2007.RadTransfProc
ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-243-0
ISSN Online: 2642-5629
ISSN Flash Drive: 2642-5661
OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF CUBIC MESOPOROUS SILICA THIN FILMS
RÉSUMÉ
Mesoporous silica thin films are used or being considered for various thermal, optical, and electronic applications since their optical properties can be optimized by fine-tuning their porous characteristics. The present study reports, for the first time, a thorough investigation of mesoporous silica thin film composition, morphology, roughness, thickness, pore size and porosity over the spectral range from 400 to 900 nm. The thin films are synthesized based on the evaporation induced self-assembly process and feature constant inter-pore spacing, pore diameter, and porosity measured as 5.95 ± 0.6 nm, 5 ± 0.5 nm, and 31%, respectively. Moreover, surface roughness measurements indicate that all films are optically smooth. In addition, the thickness and the effective refractive index of the films are retrieved from normal spectral reflectance measurements. The retrieved thickness agrees well with that measured using the stylus profilometer. The effective refractive index is insensitive to thickness variation as the film thickness exceeds 300 nm when it falls between the parallel and the VAT models.