Investigation on the crystallization kinetics of amorphous TiO2:GeO2 thin films for interferometric gravitational wave detectors

This proposal is part of a wide effort aimed at studying the coatings of the mirrors in gravitational waves (GW) interferometric detectors. This proposal aims at studying the local and medium range structure of amorphous TiO2:GeO2 at 44% (TG) thin films by means of a total scattering experiment with high energy X-rays. In particular, we aim to investigate the evolution of the structural properties of TG thin films submitted to different thermal treatments by time-resolved, pair distribution function (PDF) analysis. In particular, we want to probe in detail the structural rearrangements occurring when TG starts to crystallize, identify the resulting polymorphic structure and determine the kinetics of the transformation process.