Structure and Optical Properties of TiO2 Thin Films Prepared by a Sol-Gel Processing

Abstract

Abstract Titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films were deposited on CR-39 by a sol-gel dip coating route with different withdrawal speeds ranging from 250 to 350 mm/s. The TiO2 thin films were characterised by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and ultraviolet (UV)-visible (VIS)-near infrared (NIR) spectro-photometry. The role of withdrawal speed on the thickness of thin films to tailor properties of TiO2 thin films was studied. The XRD results revealed that all the films are amorphous in nature. TiO2 thin films deposited at different withdrawal speeds exhibit a decrease in transmission with an increase in speed. The direct optical band gap of the films has been estimated to be in the range 3.48–3.00 eV by UV-VIS-NIR spectro-photometry and 3.52–3.38 eV by ellipsometry. TiO2 is a potential prospect in microelectronic applications and can serve as an absorber layer for photovoltaic devices. Surface morphology is granular with an increase in grain size and an increase in withdrawal speed.