Precise control of the various structural phases of TiO2 at a low temperature is particularly important for practical applications. In this work, the deposition conditions for the growth of anatase and rutile phase at a low temperature (⩽300 °C) were optimized. TiO2 films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) sputtering of a ceramic TiO2 target in argon and argonoxygen plasma (10 and 20% O2) at room temperature. For the films deposited in pure Ar and 20% O2, the growth temperature was varied from 25 to 400 °C. The plasma properties were investigated using optical emission spectroscopy (OES) in a wide range of values of gas composition (0–50% O2 in Ar-O2 mixture). The structural and chemical properties were characterized by means of x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicate that O2 addition to the Ar-O2 gas mixture significantly changed the density of the plasma species (Ar, Ar+, Ti, Ti+ and O), which in turn influence the crystal structure and surface chemistry of the prepared films. Anatase phase was obtained for the films grown in Ar-O2 plasma over the whole range of temperature. In contrast, the films deposited in argon discharge largely persist in amorphous phase at temperature ⩽200 °C and revealed the formation of single rutile phase at ⩾300 °C. The oxygen vacancies detected by XPS analysis for the films deposited in Ar plasma facilitate the growth of a rutile phase at low temperature (∼300 °C). Our results demonstrate that oxygen negative ions, oxygen vacancies and surface energy conditions at the substrate are the key parameters controlling the phase of the prepared films at low temperature.

Low temperature growth study of nano-crystalline TiO2 thin films deposited by RF sputtering

Safeen, Mian Kashif;Micheli, Victor;Bartali, Ruben;Gottardi, Gloria;Bensaada Laidani, Nadhira
2015-01-01

Abstract

Precise control of the various structural phases of TiO2 at a low temperature is particularly important for practical applications. In this work, the deposition conditions for the growth of anatase and rutile phase at a low temperature (⩽300 °C) were optimized. TiO2 films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) sputtering of a ceramic TiO2 target in argon and argonoxygen plasma (10 and 20% O2) at room temperature. For the films deposited in pure Ar and 20% O2, the growth temperature was varied from 25 to 400 °C. The plasma properties were investigated using optical emission spectroscopy (OES) in a wide range of values of gas composition (0–50% O2 in Ar-O2 mixture). The structural and chemical properties were characterized by means of x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicate that O2 addition to the Ar-O2 gas mixture significantly changed the density of the plasma species (Ar, Ar+, Ti, Ti+ and O), which in turn influence the crystal structure and surface chemistry of the prepared films. Anatase phase was obtained for the films grown in Ar-O2 plasma over the whole range of temperature. In contrast, the films deposited in argon discharge largely persist in amorphous phase at temperature ⩽200 °C and revealed the formation of single rutile phase at ⩾300 °C. The oxygen vacancies detected by XPS analysis for the films deposited in Ar plasma facilitate the growth of a rutile phase at low temperature (∼300 °C). Our results demonstrate that oxygen negative ions, oxygen vacancies and surface energy conditions at the substrate are the key parameters controlling the phase of the prepared films at low temperature.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11582/302202
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