Magnetron sputtered Dy2O3 with Cr and Cu content for antireflective thin films with enhanced absorption

Dy2O3 is a rare earth oxide having a number of advanced applications in various fields including protective or antireflective coatings. Main objective of this novel research work is to check the effect of Cr and Cu addition on different properties of Dy2O3 and achievement of antireflective thin films with enhanced absorption. Thin films of these materials were deposited using DC magnetron with reactive co-sputtering. XRD studies reveals the crystalline nature of thin films having Dy2O3 (222) reflection in all samples with Cr2O3 (116) and CuO (111) reflections in Cr and Cu containing compositions. Field emission scanning electron microscopy demonstrates the homogeneous deposition of thin films with uniform shape, size and distribution of grains. Refractive index, extinction coefficient and absorption coefficient significantly increase while optical reflectance decreases with Cr and Cu mediation corroborating an improved antireflective mechanism. The imaginary part of dielectric constant is found to increase slightly with low tangent loss for Cr containing composition considered favorable for energy storage applications.