Resolving Experimental Raman Spectra of TiO<sub>2</sub>:GeO<sub>2</sub> via Atomistic Modeling and Simulations

ORAL

Abstract

TiO2:GeO2 thin film is the most promising candidate high-index mirror coating material for the LIGO gravitational wave detector. To gain a more in-depth understanding of structural changes/transformations during annealing processes, we investigated both experimental and calculated Raman spectra of TiO2:GeO2. Our calculated Raman spectra exhibited a remarkable agreement with the experimental Raman spectra of TiO2:GeO2 for as-deposited thin films, spanning a wide range of Ti concentrations, from 0% to 100%. This alignment reinforces the fidelity of our computational model compared with experimental observations. Subsequently, we focused our attention on the 44% TiO2:GeO2 composition. The evolution in the experimental Raman spectra on annealing these films at various doping concentrations was carefully scrutinized, shedding light on the underlying structural transformation.

*This work is supported by the NSF through grants PHY-2011776, PHY-2011770 and PHY-2309291. Computations were performed using the utilities of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) and the University of Florida Research Computing HiPerGator.

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Presenters

  • Rui Zhang

    • University of Florida

Authors

  • Rui Zhang

    • University of Florida

  • Jun Jiang

    • University of Florida

  • James N Fry

    • Northeastern University
    • University of Florida

  • Ruth Osovsky

    • visiting scholar at CSU

  • CARMEN S MENONI

    • Colorado State University

  • Hai-Ping Cheng

    • Northeastern University
    • University of Florida