Engineering of the band gap and optical properties of thin films of yttrium hydride

Abstract

Thin films of oxygen-containing yttrium hydride show photochromic effect at room temperature. In this work, we have studied structural and optical properties of the films deposited at different deposition pressures, discovering the possibility of engineering the optical band gap by variation of the oxygen content. In sum, the transparency of the films and the wavelength range of photons triggering the photochromic effect can be controlled by variation of the deposition pressure.