Effect of Beta Ray on the Optical Properties of CuO Thin Films

Abstract

Thin film technology is one of the most important techniques at the present time to study the properties of its constituent materials. One of the most important thin films used is copper oxide thin film because of its different applications in all fields. These thin films have been studied in different researches and treated with different types of radiation to know their effects on them and to improve some of their properties. In this study, thin films have been deposited on glass substrates by (Sol-Gel / Spin Coating) technique and used convection oven with (600 °C) for one hour and then were exposed to beta radiation for different periods of time (15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90) min. The optical properties of prepared thin films before and after irradiation were studied to investigate the effect of beta radiation on the prepared thin films. The results of optical test of the thin films showed that they are generally highly transmittance, especially in the visible and near infrared regions. The results showed an increase in the energy gap values of these thin films by increasing the duration of beta irradiation. Other optical characteristics which were studied in this paper included both reflective, absorbance, as well absorption, refraction and extinction parameters, in addition to both of real and imaginary dielectric constants.