The argon content of titanium dioxide doped tantalum pentoxide thin films was quantified in a spatially resolved way using high angle annular dark field (HAADF) images and DualEELS (a form of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) that takes two spectra in quick succession from the highs and low-loss region). Films annealed at 300 ^°C, 400 ^°C, and 600 ^°C were investigated to see if there was a relationship between annealing temperature and bubble formation. It was shown using HAADF imaging that argon is present in most of these films and that bubbles of argon start to form after annealing at 400 ^°C and coarsen after annealing at 600 ^°C. A semi-empirical standard was created for the quantification using argon data from the EELS Atlas and experimental data scaled using a Hartree Slater cross-section. The density and pressure of argon within the bubbles were calculated for 35 bubbles in the 600 ^°C sample. The bubbles had a mean diameter, density, and pressure of 22 Å, 870 kg/m³ and 400 MPa, respectively. The pressure was calculated using the Van der Waals equation. The bubbles may affect the properties of the films, which are used as optical coatings for mirrors in gravitational wave detectors. This spatially resolved quantification technique can be readily applied to other small noble gas bubbles in a range of materials.

中文翻译：

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重力波干涉仪反射镜用氧化钽基薄膜中的氩气气泡形成

使用高角度环形暗场（HAADF）图像和DualEELS（一种电子能量损失谱（EELS）形式），以空间分辨的方式对二氧化钛掺杂的五氧化二钽薄膜中的氩含量进行了定量分析，该方法从电子光谱中快速连续地获得了两个光谱。高和低损失区域）。研究了在300 ^° C，400 ^° C和600 ^° C退火的薄膜，以了解退火温度和气泡形成之间是否存在关系。使用HAADF成像显示，这些薄膜中的大多数中都存在氩气，并且在400 ^° C退火后开始形成氩气气泡，在600 ^° C退火后开始粗化。C.使用来自EELS Atlas的氩气数据和使用Hartree Slater横截面缩放的实验数据创建了用于量化的半经验标准。计算了600 ^° C样品中35个气泡的气泡中氩气的密度和压力。气泡的平均直径，密度和压力分别为22，870 kg / m ³和400 MPa。使用范德华方程式计算压力。气泡可能会影响薄膜的性能，这些薄膜可用作重力波探测器中反射镜的光学涂层。这种空间分辨的量化技术可以很容易地应用于多种材料中的其他小惰性气泡。