Liang Xianpeng, Liu Bowen, Yuan Quan, Lin Xiaomin, Ren Shaopeng, Zhao Shuaifeng, Yin Xiaojun, Fei Shuguo
Shenyang Academy of Instrumentation Science, Shenyang 110043, China.
Micromachines (Basel). 2024 Nov 29;15(12):1453. doi: 10.3390/mi15121453.
Thermal treatment is a common method to improve the properties of optical thin films, but improper thermal treatment processing will result in the degradation of the optical properties of the optical thin film. The thermal stability of niobium oxide (NbO) thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering was systematically studied by analyzing the roughness and morphology of the film under different thermal treatment processes. The results show that the amorphous stability of the NbO thin film can be maintained up to 400 °C. Before crystallization, with an increase in annealing temperature, the surface roughness of the film has no obvious change, the refractive index decreases, and the elastic modulus and hardness increase. The residual stress was measured by a laser interferometer. The results show that the residual compressive stress is present in the film, and the residual stress decreases with an increase in thermal treatment temperature. Considering the residual stress state, phase composition, mechanical properties, and optical properties of NbO films at different thermal treatment temperatures, we believe that the spectral position of the optical thin film device can be finely controlled within a 1.6% wavelength, and the thermal treatment temperature of NbO films prepared by magnetron sputtering should not exceed 400 °C.
热处理是改善光学薄膜性能的常用方法，但不当的热处理工艺会导致光学薄膜的光学性能退化。通过分析不同热处理工艺下薄膜的粗糙度和形貌，系统研究了磁控溅射制备的氧化铌（NbO）薄膜的热稳定性。结果表明，NbO薄膜的非晶稳定性可维持到400℃。在结晶之前，随着退火温度的升高，薄膜的表面粗糙度无明显变化，折射率降低，弹性模量和硬度增加。用激光干涉仪测量残余应力。结果表明，薄膜中存在残余压应力，且残余应力随热处理温度的升高而降低。考虑到不同热处理温度下NbO薄膜的残余应力状态、相组成、力学性能和光学性能，我们认为光学薄膜器件的光谱位置可在1.6%波长范围内进行精细控制，磁控溅射制备的NbO薄膜的热处理温度不应超过400℃。
