Microstructure and Optical Properties of Sm Doped TiO 2 Thin Films by Oblique Angle Deposition.

TiO2: 2%Sm3+ thin films were prepared by oblique angle deposition. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer, fluorescence spectrophotometer was employed to characterize the structure and optical properties of TiO2: 2%Sm3+ thin films. The results indicated that these thin films were with anisotropic columnar structure before and after calcination. The optical anisotropy measured by transmission difference (Tp-Ts) at 500nm was increasing from 8% to 33% with calcination. Under ultraviolet excitation (λex = 330nm) and commercial 365nm UV lamp excitation, these TiO2: Sm3+ thin films show intense 4G5/2→ 6H5/2, 7/2, 9/2 emissions of Sm3+. The polarized photoluminescence was anticipated in the anisotropic thin films. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]