Size-effects on the optical properties of zirconium oxide thin films

Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) thin films with an average crystallite-size (L) ranging from 5 to 25 nm were grown by sputter deposition onto optical grade quartz substrates. The optical properties of grown ZrO2 films were evaluated using optical transmission and reflectance spectroscopic measurements. The size-effects were significant on the optical characteristics of ZrO2 films. The bandgap energy (Eg) was found to increase from 5.78 to 6.07 eV with decreasing L values from 20 to 7 nm. A direct, linear inverse L-Eg relationship found for ZrO2 films suggest that tuning optical properties for desired applications can be achieved by controlling the size.