Optical characteristics of ultrathin amorphous Ge films

Ultrathin Ge films with thickness of about 15 nm at different deposition temperatures were prepared by electron beam evaporation. Spectral measurement results showed that as the deposition temperature increased from 100°C to 300°C, the transmittance of the films in the wavelength range from 350 nm to 2100 nm decreased. After annealing in air at 500°C, the transmittance significantly increased and approached that of uncoated fused quartz. Based on the Tauc plot method and Mott–Davis–Paracrystalline model, the optical band gap of Ge films was calculated and interpreted. The difference in optical band gap reveals that the deposition temperature has an effect on the optical band gap before annealing, while having little effect on the optical band gap after annealing. Furthermore, due to oxidation of Ge films, the optical band gap was significantly increased to ～5.7 eV after annealing.