Synthesis and annealing of nanostructured TiO2 films by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

• Main Authors: Hasan, M.M., Haseeb, A.S. Md. Abdul, Saidur, Rahman, Masjuki, Haji Hassan, Hamdi, M.
• Format: Article
• Published: Asian Network for Scientific Information 2009
• Subjects: TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/6791/; https://doi.org/10.3923/jas.2009.2815.2821

In this investigation, anatase TiO 2 thin films were deposited on glass substrates at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering at an elevated sputtering pressure of 3 Pa. The TiO 2 films deposited at room temperature were annealed at different temperatures up to 873°K for 1 h. The TiO 2 films were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and UV-visible-NIR spectrophotometry. The XRD results reveal that the as-deposited film possess the anatase structure. Annealed TiO 2 films show an insignificant change in crystallinity except of the fact that there is a slight increase for the film annealed at 600°C. The crystallite size increases from 44.5 to 48 nm with the increase of the annealing temperature. As-grown TiO 2 film exhibits high visible transmittance with enhanced refractive index of 2.31 at a wavelength of 550 nm. The indirect optical band gaps of the as-deposited and annealed films have been estimated to be in the range of 3.39-3.42 eV. AFM observations reveal the compact and dense morphology of the as-deposited and annealed TiO 2 thin films.