Sequential Processes to Produce N-TiO2 Films Through Rf Plasmas

Abstract

Using as target a CpTi disk in an atmosphere of argon/oxygen and by rf plasma. First titanium dioxide (TiO2) films were obtained on silicon substrates, and subsequently, these films were doped with nitrogen (N-TiO2). In both processes, along four hours at 390°C of temperature. X-Ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the presence of the nanostructured anatase phase. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyzes indicate that the nitrogen atoms were incorporated into the TiO2 film with ~33.9 at%. The films reach a thickness of 1.25 μm and 40 nm the average uniformity determined by using an atomic force microscope. Finally, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy outcome evaluated ones an energy band gap reduction from 3.17 eV to 2.95 eV corresponding to TiO2 films and N-TiO2 films respectively.