Effect of the amount of argon in an oxygen ion beam on the optical characteristics of titanium dioxide films obtained via ion-assisted electron beam evaporation

The effect of argon in a mixture with oxygen in an ion beam on the optical characteristics of titanium dioxide (TiO2) obtained via ion-assisted electron beam evaporation in vacuum was studied. It was shown that the addition of an inert gas at a level of 20%–25% resulted in an increase in the refractive index of the resulting TiO2 coating and a decrease in the sensitivity of the spectral characteristic of the coating to the effect of the atmosphere as a result of the decrease in the film porosity. The maximum amount of argon in the mixture was determined, amounting to 26%, at which the TiO2 film had an extinction coefficient not exceeding k=0.0001.