Widely tunable optical properties via oxygen manipulation in an amorphous alloy

基于非晶合金体系的氧调控实现宽范围光学性能的精准可调

The ability to widely tune the optical properties of amorphous alloys is highly desirable especially for their potential applications in optoelectronic devices.In this work,we demonstrate that introducing oxygen into an amorphous alloy system of Co-Fe-Ta-B enables the formation of various amorphous derivatives ranging from metals to semiconductors,and eventually to insulators.These oxygencontaining amorphous derivatives gradually become transparent with the opened bandgaps,leading to a continuous increase in their optical transmittance.Furthermore,the reflective metal-type amorphous alloy and transparent insulator-type amorphous oxide of the system can be integrated together to realize the full-color tuning over the entire visible spectral range.This provides a new way to develop large-area color coatings with high design flexibility and full-color tunability.We envisage that the design concept proposed in this work is also applicable to many other amorphous alloy systems,from which all types of amorphous materials including alloys,semiconductors and insulators may be developed to show unprecedented optical functionalities.

宽范围精准调控非晶材料的光学性能是面向光电器件等潜在应用亟需解决的关键问题之一.研究发现,通过在非晶合金CoFe-Ta-B体系中引入氧可以诱导金属-绝缘体转变,从而制备出一系列涵盖金属、半导体和绝缘体的非晶态衍生物.随着氧含量的不断增加,这些含氧非晶态衍生物的光学带隙打开,薄膜逐渐变得透明.复合高反射率的非晶合金和高透过率的非晶氧化物形成的双层薄膜结构可以实现可见光波段的全色谱可调.该研究结果为研制具有高硬度、高耐磨性、设计制备简便、全色谱可调等优异性能的大面积彩色涂层提供了一条新的途径.同时,该研究提出的设计理念可能适用于已报道的很多非晶合金体系,通过这种氧调控方式可制备出涵盖金属、半导体和绝缘体所有导电类型的非晶材料,用于研制基于这些材料光学功能特性的器件.