Abstract
CeO2 films with five different oxygen flow ratios, namely 1179°C, 1180°C, 1181°C, 1182°C, 1183°C and 1184°C were synthesized on glass substrates via closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering technique. These films were characterized using many techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM), and UV-Vis-NIR. When the post-annealing temperature (TPA) for the films was increased from 1179°C to 1183 °C, a reduction of oxygen in the film was observed, which led to a phase transition from cubic to hexagonal Ce2O3 (002). The phase transition is related to Ce4 to Ce3 transformation due to the formation of oxygen vacancies. XRD studies revealed that all samples have a cubic fluorite CeO2 structure (space group: Fm3m) with a preferred orientation along (1 1 1) except for 1179 °C and 1181°C which prefer (2 2 0) plane orientation. Sample 1179°C showed the highest roughness (3.72nm) while sample 1184 °C has the lowest roughness (1.72nm). Sample 1181 °C showed highest percentage transmittance (>50%) while the other samples showed a percentage transmittance lower than 50%. Most of the films obtained exhibits a smooth and crack free surfaces.