The annealing temperature dependence of anatase TiO2 thin films prepared by the electron-beam evaporation method

Abstract

In this paper, we report on titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films deposited by an electron beam evaporation method on quartz glass substrates (15 × 15 × 2 mm3 in size), followed by post-annealing at 300 °C to 600 °C for an annealing time of up to 2 h. The substrate temperature during the film deposition was kept at 150 °C. The effect of post-growth thermal annealing on the structural and optical properties of TiO2 thin films were systematically studied as a function of annealing temperature. We found that the as-deposited TiO2 films are amorphous in structure, while the films started to crystallize into the anatase phase when annealed at temperatures ≥450 °C. An increase in annealing temperature results in a decrease of transmittance percentage and also in optical band gap energy. The refractive indices of the films were evaluated from the measured transmittance spectra using the envelope method. An increase in the refractive index with an increase of annealing temperature was observed.