Abstract
This study investigates the impact of high temperature and vacuum on the properties of WO
3 powder during electron beam deposition and evaluates the consequential effects on the as-deposited films. Therein, the grain size and the crystallinity of the source were observed to increase and become non-stoichiometric tungsten oxide (WO
3−
x
) due to the high temperature and vacuum during the first deposition. As a result of these changes in the source, the optical band gap,
E
g, of the deposited film decreased from 3.11
eV to 3.07
eV, and the absorbance was observed to increase. The coloration efficiencies of the deposited films decreased from 23 to 16
cm
2
C
−1. WO
3-incorporated carbon nanotubes (WO
3/CNT) were observed in the source after electron beam deposition if there were some initial carbon impurities in the source prior to deposition.