The energy barrier at noble metal/TiO2 junctions

Abstract

Nobel metal/TiO2 structures are used as catalysts in chemical reactors, active components in TiO2-based electronic devices, and connections between such devices and the outside circuitry. Here, we investigate the energy barrier at the junctions between vacuum-deposited Ag, Au, and Pt thin films and TiO2 layers by recording their electrical current vs. voltage diagrams and spectra of optical responses. Deposited Au/, Pt/, and Ag/TiO2 behave like contacts with zero junction energy barriers, but the thermal annealing of the reverse-biased devices for an hour at 523 K in air converts them to Schottky diodes with high junction energy barriers, decreasing their reverse electric currents up to 106 times. Similar thermal processing in vacuum or pure argon proved ineffective. The highest energy barrier and the lowest reverse current among the devices examined belong to the annealed Ag/TiO2 contacts. The observed electronic features are described based on the physicochemical parameters of the constituting materials. The formation of higher junction barriers with rutile than with anatase is demonstrated.