Effect of Heating Rate on the Sintering of Titanium Dioxide Thin Films: Competition between Densification and Crystallization

Abstract

Sintering of sol‐gel‐derived TiO 2 thin films was studied as a function of heating rate by ion‐beam analysis, X‐ray diffraction, and ellipsometry. The degree of densification increases with increasing heating rate. Densest films containing the lowest amount of hydroxyls are obtained using rapid thermal annealing. The results are rationalized in terms of a competition between densification and crystallization.