Effect of the substrate temperature on the properties of the RF sputtered TiO₂ thin films

Abstract

Abstract Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on glass and silicon substrates at different substrate temperatures (20, 100, 200 and 300 °C). The structural and morphological characteristics of the films were investigated by X ray Diffractometry (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) while the optical properties of the films were studied by optical spectroscopy. It was shown that at room temperature, TiO 2 films grown on glass were amorphous following the substrate structure. At higher temperatures, XRD detected only a nanocrystalline rutile TiO 2 structure. This indicated that the transition temperature toward the most stable TiO 2 phase was obtained from 100 °C and the crystallinity was enhanced at higher growth temperature. For TiO 2 films grown on Si substrates, only a nanocrystalline anatase TiO 2 structure was obtained at room temperature. At higher temperatures, we noticed the appearance of other secondary phases related to rutile, anatase and brookite structures. From AFM images, we noticed that at room temperature, the films were porous. With increasing the temperature, the structure of the films became crystallized showing a columnar structure. Film growth and structural properties were discussed in terms of the Thornton model. From optical analysis, the films were transparent with an indirect band gap and a refraction index which reached 3.09 eV and 2.7, respectively. The reflectance and transmittance spectra showed, not only that there was a little translation from UVB to UVA and near‐visible range, but also a decrease of reflection with a temperature increase indicating that the films could be used as anti‐reflection coatings. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)