Optical characterization and dispersion analyses of plasma polymerized methyl acrylate thin films

This work reports the structural characteristics, surface morphology, linear and nonlinear optical properties of 110 to 225 nm thick plasma polymerized methyl acrylate (PPMA) thin films. X-ray diffraction analyses confirm the amorphous nature of the films. Field emission scanning electron micrographs of the films display cluster-based surface morphology. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirms the chemical structural changes in the films. The optical properties were studied based on the absorbance, transmittance, and reflectance spectra measured by an ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer within the wavelength ranges from 200 to 800 nm. The direct optical band gap and Urbach values are increased from 3.66 to 3.83 eV and 0.28 to 0.45 eV, respectively with increasing film thickness. The extinction coefficient and refractive index were evaluated, and discussed a correlation between the refractive index and the optical bandgap. The real and imaginary dielectric constants, volume/surface energy loss functions and skin depth were deduced. The oscillator energies and parameters were analyzed using the concept of Wemple-DiDomenico and Sellmeier models, respectively for a single oscillator. Static linear refractive index for the studied films exhibits normal dispersion behavior with film thicknesses and satisfied Moss, Ravindra-Gupta, and Herve-Vandamme rules. The linear susceptibility, third-order nonlinear susceptibility and the non-linear refractive index are considerably reduced from 0.20, 29.5 × 10^-14 esu, and 5.89 × 10^-12 esu with increasing optical band gap energies. The outcomes from the analyses of PPMA demonstrated their potential for usage in electronic, optoelectronic, and non-linear device applications.