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. 2020 Aug 5;12(31):35232-35241.
doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c08635. Epub 2020 Jul 27.

Structural and Optical Properties of Phase-Pure UO2, α-U3O8, and α-UO3 Epitaxial Thin Films Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Affiliations

Structural and Optical Properties of Phase-Pure UO2, α-U3O8, and α-UO3 Epitaxial Thin Films Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Erik Enriquez et al. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. .

Abstract

Fundamental understanding of the electronic, chemical, and structural properties of uranium oxides requires the synthesis of high-crystalline-quality epitaxial films of different polymorphs of one material or different phases with various oxygen valence states. We report the growth of single-phase epitaxial UO2, α-U3O8, and α-UO3 thin films using pulsed laser deposition. Both oxygen partial pressure and substrate temperature play critical roles in determining the crystal structure of the uranium oxide films. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy demonstrate that the films are single phase with excellent crystallinity and epitaxially grown on a variety of substrates. Chemical valance states and optical properties of epitaxial uranium oxide films are studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy, which further confirm the high-quality stoichiometric phase-pure uranium oxide thin films. Epitaxial UO2 films show a direct band gap of 2.61 eV, while epitaxial α-U3O8 and α-UO3 films exhibit indirect band gaps of 1.89 and 2.26 eV, respectively. The ability to grow high-quality epitaxy actinide oxide thin films and to access their different phases and polymorphous will have significant benefits to the future applications in nuclear science and technology.

Keywords: epitaxial stabilization; optical properties; thin films; uranium oxides.

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