Structural Study And Optical Properties Of TiO[sub 2] Thin Films Elaborated By Thermal Oxidation Of RF Magnetron Sputtered Ti Films

Abstract

We report on the effect of thickness on the structural and optical properties of TiO{sub 2} thin films obtained by direct exposure of Ti metal film to thermal oxidation. Ti thin films with thicknesses ranging from 87 nm to 484 nm were deposited onto glass substrate by RF magnetron sputtering. Thereafter, the as-deposited Ti films were annealed in air at temperature equal to 520 deg. C. The structural evolution and optical properties of obtained TiO{sub 2} films were studied by means of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-Visible spectroscopy. The films thicknesses were extracted from RBS spectra. From X-ray diffraction spectra, we can see that all the films present three TiO{sub 2} phases (anatase, rutile and Brookite). The anatase and rutile phases exhibit a strong preferred orientation along (004) and (210) planes respectively. The grain sizes, D (nm), did not change much with increasing thickness. The average value of (nm) was equal to 29 nm for anatase and 26 nm for rutile. The micrographs taken from SEM experiments indicate that the films present a dense micro structure with very small grains. Transmittance spectra show that all the films present a goodmore » transparency in the visible region. The dependence of transmittance, optical band gap and refractive index on the thickness of the films was also studied.« less