Control of the optical and crystalline properties of TiO{sub 2} in visible-light active TiO{sub 2}/TiN bi-layer thin-film stacks

Journal Article · Sun Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3671428· OSTI ID:22038848

Smith, Wilson; Fakhouri, Houssam; Pulpytel, Jerome; Arefi-Khonsari, Farzaneh ^[1]

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1. Laboratoire de Genie des Procedes Plasma et Traitement de Surface, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, 11 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 75231 (France)

Multi-layered thin films of TiO{sub 2} and TiN were created by rf reactive magnetron sputtering, and their crystalline, optical, and photoelectrochemical properties were measured. The overall composition of the films (TiO{sub 2}-to-TiN ratio) was kept constant with the height of each film. The number of layers and thickness of each layer was controlled to create bi-layer thin films that were composed of: 9 bi-layers, 18 bi-layers, 27 bi-layers, 36 bi-layers, and 45 bi-layers. XRD patterns were observed for each film after annealing to measure the grain size and composition of anatase and rutile as a function of temperature. It was found that the phase-transition temperature is able to be substantially controlled (between 550 deg. C and 850 deg. C) for the anatase to rutile transition by varying the number of layers/thickness of each layer. In addition, bi-layer stacking significantly affected the film's optical properties by lowering the bandgap into the visible-light region, and also showed up to three times the improvement in photoelectrochemical performance under uv and visible irradiation. Overall, bi-layer stacking of TiO{sub 2}/TiN films has shown a unique and highly desirable control over several important physical characteristics that can be beneficial for many applications, such as high-temperature sensors and optoelectronic devices.

• OSTI ID: 22038848
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 111, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ANNEALING
DEPOSITION
ENERGY GAP
GRAIN SIZE
INTERFACES
IRRADIATION
LAYERS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SOLIDS
SPUTTERING
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THIN FILMS
TITANIUM NITRIDES
TITANIUM OXIDES
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
X-RAY DIFFRACTION