Gamma irradiation effects on structural, optical and electrical properties of Indium oxide thin film

Measurement of radiation dose has the utmost importance in the field of medicine and research. This work aims at the sensitivity estimation of Indium oxide thin film on gamma irradiation for dosimetry application. Indium oxide thin film prepared using spray pyrolysis on a glass substrate with a concentration of 0.1M and temperature 450 °C is exposed to different gamma radiation doses using ⁶⁰Co as the radiation source. The impact of irradiation on the structural properties of the film was investigated by XRD and a higher crystallite size was obtained for a dose of 200Gy. The phase purity and vibrational modes of the irradiated films were investigated using Raman spectra. The optical characterization of the irradiated film shows a slight increase in bandgap with irradiation dose and optical parameters like refractive index and extinction coefficient is also extracted from optical data. The electrical measurement is used to find the sensitivity of the film at different applied voltages and it lies in the range 101 - 380 mA/cm²/Gy. The fact that irradiated material undergoes a change in physical properties due to the influence of gamma-ray can be utilized for gamma dosimetry applications. The changes induced by gamma-ray in structural, optical and electrical properties have been investigated. The linear region of the normalized current plot with different doses assures the suitability of INO thin film for dosimetry purposes. (author)