CORRELATION OF HYDROGEN CONTENT WITH PROPERTIES OF OXIDIC THIN-FILMS

Hydrogen and hydrogen-containing species (H2O, OH etc.) play a dominant role in the various properties of glass surfaces and technical oxidic thin films deposited on glass. The amount of hydrogen and its distribution with depth are influenced by preparation and production processes, film materials, density and voids, etc. The N-15 nuclear reaction technique, which works quantitatively and nondestructively, was used to investigate glass surfaces and thin films of TiO2, Ta2O5 and SiO2 produced by sol-gel processes, reactive evaporation, sputtering and ion plating on glass substrates. An increase or decrease in hydrogen content influences optical and mechanical properties such as the refractive index and adhesion of the films.