Structural evolution and optical properties of TiO2 thin films prepared by thermal oxidation of sputtered Ti films

Abstract

A dense rutile TiO2 thin film was synthesized by the thermal oxidation of a sputtered titanium metal film in ambient air. The effects on optical properties of TiO2 films of the crystal structure and microstructural evolution at various oxidation temperatures were investigated. The Ti films transformed into single-phase rutile TiO2 at temperatures ⩾ 550 °C without going through an anatase-to-rutile transformation. Instead, an additional crystalline Ti2O phase was detected at 550 °C only. An increase in the oxidation temperatures ranging between 700 and 900 °C led to an increase in both the refractive index and absorption coefficient, but a decrease in the band gap energy (Eg). According to the coherent potential approximation model, the band gap evolution of the oxidized films was primarily attributed to the electronic disorder due to oxygen deficiency at a higher oxidation temperature rather than the presence of an amorphous component in the prepared films.