Nanostructure and optical properties of CeO2 thin films obtained by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

In the present study, Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE) is used to investigate the interrelations between nanostructure and optical properties of CeO2 thin films deposited by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PE-CVD). The layers were synthesized in Ar and Ar-O2 plasmas on Si(100) substrates at temperatures lower than 300 °C. Both the real and imaginary parts of the complex dielectric functions and, subsequently, the optical constants of the films are derived up to 6.0 eV photon energy. Particular attention is devoted to the influence of synthesis conditions and sample properties on the optical response, taking into account the effects of surface roughness and SiO2 interface layer on Si.