Nanostructured TiO2 thin films have been prepared through chemical route
using sol-gel and spin coating techniques. The deposited films were annealed in the
temperature range 400–1000°C for 1 h. The structure and microstructure of the
annealed films were characterized by GAXRD, micro-Raman spectroscopy and AFM. The
as-deposited TiO2 thin films are found to be amorphous. Micro-Raman and GAXRD
results confirm the presence of the anatase phase and absence of the rutile phase
for films annealed up to 700°C. The diffraction pattern of the film annealed at 800
to 1000°C contains peaks of both anatase and rutile reflections. The intensity of
all peaks in micro-Raman and GAXRD patterns increased and their width (FWHM)
decreased with increasing annealing temperature, demonstrating the improvement in
the crystallinity of the annealed films. Phase transformation at higher annealing
temperature involves a competition among three events such as : grain growth of
anatase phase, conversion of anatase to rutile and grain growth of rutile phase. AFM
image of the as-deposited films and annealed films indicated exponential grain
growth at higher temperature.Effect of thermal annealing on the structure and microstructure ofTiO2 thin films
Haripriya Rath1*, S Anand2, M Mohapatra2, Priyadarshini Dash1, T Som3,
U P Singh4 and N C Mishra1
1Department of Physics, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar-751 004, Orissa, India
2Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar-751 013, Orissa, India
3Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar-751 005, Orissa, India
4KIIT University, Bhubaneswar-751 024, Orissa, India
E-mail : [email protected] of Physics, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar-751 004, Orissa, India
2Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar-751 013, Orissa, India
3Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar-751 005, Orissa, India
4KIIT University, Bhubaneswar-751 024, Orissa, India
1Department of Physics, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar-751 004, Orissa, India
2Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar-751 013, Orissa, India
3Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar-751 005, Orissa, India
4KIIT University, Bhubaneswar-751 024, Orissa, Indi
