Structural, optical and Raman scattering studies on DC magnetron sputtered titanium dioxide thin films

• Published in: Solar energy materials and solar cells Vol. 88; no. 2; pp. 199 - 208
• Main Authors: Karunagaran, B., Kim, Kyunghae, Mangalaraj, D., Yi, Junsin, Velumani, S.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.07.2005; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Natural energy; Optical constants; Photovoltaic conversion; Raman scattering; Reactive sputtering; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy; TiO 2 thin films; TiO 2 thin films; Reactive sputtering; Raman scattering; Optical constants; TiO2 thin films; Sputtering; Thin film; Solar cell; Thickness; Crystalline material; Thermal annealing; Titanium oxide; Auger electron spectrometry; Photovoltaic conversion; Electron spectrometry
• ISSN: 0927-0248; 1879-3398
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2004.03.008

Thin films of TiO 2 were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering. The thicknesses of the films were measured using alpha step profilometer technique. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) is used to determine the composition of the films. The influence of post-deposition annealing at 673 and 773 K on the structural, optical and Raman scattering was studied. The thicknesses of the films were found to be more or less the same irrespective of the annealing temperature and time. XRD results reveal the amorphous nature of the as-deposited film while the annealed samples were found to be crystalline with a tetragonal symmetry. Using the optical transmittance method, the optical constants such as band gap, refractive index and absorption coefficient were calculated and the influence of thermal annealing on these properties was reported. Raman study was employed to study the existence of different frequency modes and improvement of crystallinity of the TiO 2 films and the effect of annealing temperature on the Raman shift is studied and reported.