Effect of cold deformation and annealing on the microstructure of electron-beam-evaporated NiZrO3 condensates

The optical properties of thin films of vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum and tungsten in the range 0.32–5.6 eV are reported.A Newton-Raphson numerical analysis of the data obtained from three suitably chosen photometric measurements yielded the thickness of the films and the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant. The optical conductivity was deduced and compared with the experimental results obtained by others from measurements on bulk monocrystalline or polycrystalline samples.The results obtained from both types of measurement on five metals agree well. For tantalum the discrepancies can possibly be explained by the small grains present in our samples (which were deposited at room temperature) and by the presence of β-tantalum.A very satisfactory interpretation of the conductivity is given in terms of interband transitions in the visible range 1–5.6 eV.