Properties of BGO thin films under the influence of gamma radiation

It is important to know the behaviour of materials under the influence of radiation for the effective design of novel sensor systems. Optical properties of bismuth germinate (Bi4Ge3O12—BGO) thin films were investigated in terms of their perception to gamma radiation exposure. An Edwards E306A vacuum thermal coating system was used for thin films deposition. BGO films with a thickness of 200 nm were exposed to a disk-type 137Cs gamma radiation source with an activity of 370 kBq. Optical properties of the films were investigated using CARY IE UV-Visible Spectrophotometer. Calculated optical band gap for as-deposited BGO thin film was 1.95 eV. Gamma radiation induced changes in the optical properties of thin films, which could be explained by the variation in the degree of disorder. From the density-of-state model, it is known that optical band gap decreases with an increasing degree of disorder of the amorphous phase.