IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF IN2O3 NANOSTRUCTURE BY IN-SITU THERMAL ANNEALING

In2O3/W2N nanocomposites have been successfully grown by a single step deposition technique. The nanostructures were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The structure deformation of In2O3 nanostructure by an in situ thermal annealing under ambient nitrogen plasma treatment were investigated. The In2O3 nanostructure demonstrated a decreasing in particle size when it was exposed to in situ thermal annealing by a hot-filament at temperature of 1700 oC. XPS spectra reveal the formation of In2O3 and W2N nanostructures presented in the material. The crystallinities of these nanostructures were revealed by XRD patterns showing the cubic, hexagonal and cubic of In2O3 and W2N structures respectively. The decreasing of the optical energy gap, Eg from 2.63 to 1.69 eV which is in the visible region could attributed to the incorporation of nitrogen into the In2O3 and the formation of In2O3/W2N nanocomposites. The effects of thermal annealing on the structural and optical properties of the nanostructures are discussed.