Study of micro-structural, optical and electrical properties of TiO₂ films obtained from micro-controller based SILAR method

The TiO₂ films were obtained from successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. A micro-controller based SILAR unit was used to precisely monitor and control the deposition parameters. The films were uniform and free from physical defects such as pores and cracks. A maximum thickness of about 700 nm was achieved. The films were found to be polycrystalline without any texture or preferred orientations. The crystallite size of the films was found to increase with thickness while the micro strain and stress were found to reduce with the thickness. Post-deposition annealing was also found to produce the similar results. The films were found to possess an indirect bandgap of about 3 eV. Various technically important parameters such as root-mean-square micro strain, Urbach energy, chemical composition, carrier concentration, electrical resistivity etc. were determined. The effects of deposition parameters on the properties of the films is discussed in detail.