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<p>Cerium dioxide (CeO₂) thin films were deposited onto Corning glass substrates via RF magnetron sputtering. A subset of the samples was retained in the as-deposited state, whereas the remaining subsets were annealed at 400&#xa0;°C, 600&#xa0;°C, and 800&#xa0;°C. The objective of this study is to systematically investigate the influence of post-deposition thermal treatment on the structural, morphological, optical, and photocatalytic characteristics of the films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that annealing at 600&#xa0;°C enhanced crystallinity and increased crystallite size, whereas atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed a uniform, densely packed surface morphology. UV–Vis spectroscopy revealed that, considering all sample sets, the optical band gap gradually narrowed from 3.55 ± 0.05&#xa0;eV (as-deposited) to 3.45 ± 0.05&#xa0;eV (800&#xa0;°C). Photocatalytic performance was evaluated by measuring methylene blue d under UV irradiation, with the 600&#xa0;°C-annealed film achieving the highest degradation efficiency (~ 78%) owing to its superior structural and morphological features. In contrast, annealing at 800&#xa0;°C led to microstructural reorganization and texture evolution, which adversely affected the photocatalytic activity despite a further reduction in the optical band gap. These results demonstrate that the annealing temperature is a critical parameter for tuning the performance of CeO₂ thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering and provide valuable insights into the rational design of sputter-deposited rare-earth oxide thin films for photocatalytic water purification applications.</p>

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Annealing-Induced Structural and Optical Evolution in RF-Sputtered CeO₂ Thin Films

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月23日

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  • Halil İbrahim Efkere

摘要

Cerium dioxide (CeO₂) thin films were deposited onto Corning glass substrates via RF magnetron sputtering. A subset of the samples was retained in the as-deposited state, whereas the remaining subsets were annealed at 400 °C, 600 °C, and 800 °C. The objective of this study is to systematically investigate the influence of post-deposition thermal treatment on the structural, morphological, optical, and photocatalytic characteristics of the films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that annealing at 600 °C enhanced crystallinity and increased crystallite size, whereas atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed a uniform, densely packed surface morphology. UV–Vis spectroscopy revealed that, considering all sample sets, the optical band gap gradually narrowed from 3.55 ± 0.05 eV (as-deposited) to 3.45 ± 0.05 eV (800 °C). Photocatalytic performance was evaluated by measuring methylene blue d under UV irradiation, with the 600 °C-annealed film achieving the highest degradation efficiency (~ 78%) owing to its superior structural and morphological features. In contrast, annealing at 800 °C led to microstructural reorganization and texture evolution, which adversely affected the photocatalytic activity despite a further reduction in the optical band gap. These results demonstrate that the annealing temperature is a critical parameter for tuning the performance of CeO₂ thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering and provide valuable insights into the rational design of sputter-deposited rare-earth oxide thin films for photocatalytic water purification applications.