Effects of Annealling Treatment on the Properties of TiO₂/ZnO Thin Film Prepared by Simultaneous RF-Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract:

In this work, TiO₂/ZnO nanocomposite films were prepared by simultaneous RF-magnetron sputtering of ZnO and TiO₂ targets. The influences of annealing temperature on the properties of the TiO₂/ZnO films were investigated. The crystal structure of the deposited TiO₂/ZnO films was hexagonal wurtzite at (002) and (101) peaks and the films were highly oriented along the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum reveals the appearance of two emission peaks from the deposited film that are centred at 384 and 591 nm. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of TiO₂/ZnO films were strongly dependent on the annealing temperature. With increasing of the annealing temperature, the optical properties (i.e., UV, transmittance, energy band-gap and crystalline quality) were also improved. However, when the annealing is relatively high (≥ 500° C), the intensity of the optical properties and crystalline quality slightly decreases. The annealing temperature of (≥ 500° C) becoming the threshold temperature limits for the TiO₂/ZnO film. The results obtained herein suggest that selecting the appropriate annealing temperature become a key factor for tuning the most desired properties from the as-prepared TiO₂/ZnO thin films.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 832)
• Pages: 573-578
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.832.573
• Online since: November 2013
• Authors: Mohd Hanapiah Abdullah, Mohamad Hafiz Mamat, Mohammad Rusop Mahmood
• Keywords: Compact Layer, Nanocomposite, Photocatalytic, Simultaneous RF-Magnetron Sputtering

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