One-step fabrication of surface-relief diffusers by stress-induced undulations on elastomer

In this study, we demonstrated that microscale surface undulations induced by acid treatment could serve as the surface relief on diffusers coated with a layer of PDMS polymer. Since the orientation of undulations was found to be always disordered, these undulations would scatter light uniformly. The periodicity of the undulations could be adjusted by the control of duration of the dipping of the elastomer into H₂SO₄/HNO₃ solutions and by the volume ratio of H₂SO₄/HNO₃ the solution, resulting in the modulation of diffusing ability of diffusers. The optical properties, transmittance, and light diffusivity, were characterised. This proposed approach offers potential for mass production of surface-relief diffusers. In addition, the proposed method allows the creation of undulations on arbitrary substrates.     

Understanding the solar photo-catalytic activity of TiO2-ITO nanocomposite deposited on low cost substrates

In this work, we report on the photo-catalytic properties of TiO₂-ITO nanocomposite deposited on low cost conventional clay ceramic substrates. The nanocomposite was formed by spraying a solution prepared from the P25 TiO₂ powder (Degussa) mixed with an organometallic paste of a dissolved combination of indium and tin. A TiO₂-ITO powder-like nanocomposite was prepared for X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization. The mean particle size of the TiO₂-ITO nanocomposite was found to be larger than that of pure TiO₂. The optical features of TiO₂-ITO-based layers (deposited on glass substrates) were investigated using UV-vis spectroscopy. The TiO₂-ITO nanocomposite deposited layers were found to have higher light absorption than the P25 TiO₂ powder. The photo-catalytic properties of the TiO₂-ITO nanocomposite (deposited on low cost clay ceramic substrates) were tested under solar irradiation using a well-known polluting dye. It was shown that the TiO₂-ITO nanocomposite exhibits higher degradation rates towards the pollutant dye than the P25 TiO₂ powder. The optical band gap of the TiO₂-ITO nanocomposite (2.79 eV) was found to be lower than that of pure TiO₂ (3.1 eV), while ITO (indium tin oxide) has a band gap of about 4.2 eV. ITO was found to be entirely transparent to sun light, while it exhibits a slight photo-catalytic activity, signifying the possible existence of an indirect photo-catalysis phenomenon (sensitized semiconductor photocalysis) and potential degradation (oxidation) of the pollutant through electron transfer from the dye to conduction band of the semiconductor. All photo-catalytic activity results were discussed in light of the optical band gap of the various compounds.     

Determination of sodium migration in sol-gel deposited titania films on soda-lime glass with r.f. glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy

Transparent TiO₂ films were produced via sol-gel spin and dip-coating techniques. Soda-lime glass (SLG) and SiO₂ precoated glass were used as substrates. The thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray reflectometry (XRR), optical profilometer and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GD-OES). Na migration was detected in the amorphous TiO₂ films which are deposited on SLG substrates. In order to prevent sodium migration a barrier layer was introduced between TiO₂ film and glass. The beneficial role of this barrier layer on alkali migration is verified and the mechanism of prevention of migration is proposed relying on the results of GD-OES depth profile measurements.     

Influence of Au thickness on the optical and electrical properties of transparent and conducting TiO2/Au/TiO2 multilayer films

Au-intermediate TiO₂/Au/TiO₂ (TAT) multilayer films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering onto glass substrates. Changes in the optical and electrical properties of the films were investigated with respect to the thickness of the Au interlayer.The observed optical and electrical properties were dependent on the thickness of the Au interlayer. The resistivity decreased to 3.3 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm for TiO₂ films with a 20 nm-thick Au interlayer and the optical transmittance was also influenced by the Au interlayer. Although optical transmittance deteriorated as Au thickness increased, TiO₂ films with a 5 nm-thick Au interlayer showed a relatively high optical transmittance of 80% at a wavelength of 550 nm. In addition, since a TAT film with a 5 nm-thick Au interlayer showed a relatively high work function value, it is an alternative candidate for use as a transparent anode in OLEDs and flat panel displays.     

Reactive sputtering TiO2 films for surface coating of poly(dimethylsiloxane)

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) films were prepared on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) substrate by direct current (DC) reactive sputtering to change surface physical properties of PDMS. The effects of the changes were investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, water contact angle measurements and protein adsorption tests. Improved wettability and reduced adsorption properties were observed on PDMS surface coated TiO₂ films.     

Characterization of TiO2/Au/TiO2 films deposited by magnetron sputtering on polycarbonate substrates

Transparent and conducting TiO₂/Au/TiO₂ (TAuT) films were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering on polycarbonate substrates to investigate the effect of the Au interlayer on the optical, electrical, and structural properties of the films. In TAuT films, the Au interlayer thickness was kept at 5 nm. Although total thickness was maintained at 100 nm, the stack structure was varied as 50/5/45, 70/5/25, and 90/5/5 nm.In XRD pattern, the intermediate Au films were crystallized, while all TAuT films did not show any diffraction peaks for TiO₂ films with regardless of stack structure. The optical and electrical properties were dependent on the stack structure of the films. The lowest sheet resistance of 23 Ω/□ and highest optical transmittance of 76% at 550 nm were obtained from TiO₂ 90 nm/Au 5 nm/TiO₂ 5 nm films. The work function was dependent on the film stack. The highest work function (4.8 eV) was observed with the TiO₂ 90 nm/Au 5 nm/TiO₂ 5 nm film stack. The TAuT film stack of TiO₂ 90 nm/Au 5 nm/TiO₂ 5 nm films is an optimized stack that may be an alternative candidate for transparent electrodes in flat panel displays.     

Nanostructured TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Films with a Mixed Phase for Perovskite Solar Cells

A series of thin films made with TiO₂ nanoparticles with a varied anatase/rutile phase ratio is prepared on conducting glass substrates using a spin-coating method. The structure, morphology, and optical properties of TiO₂ nanopowders and thin films fabricated are studied using powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and optical spectroscopy. The TiO₂ nanostructured films created are used as photoelectrodes for the fabrication of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The photovoltaic characteristics of PSCs under AM1.5 light illumination (1000 W/m²) under ambient conditions are studied. It is shown that the best efficiency of solar-to-electrical energy conversion, namely, 9.3%, is obtained for the PSC with a photoelectrode based on a TiO₂ film with an anatase/rutile mixed phase ratio of 86/14%.     

Anatase TiO2 films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition using Ti target

TiO₂ films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition using a metallic Ti target in an O₂ gas ambient. The microstructure along with optical and photocatalytic properties of the deposited films were systematically studied by changing the deposition parameters and substrates. It was found that TiO₂ films having nearly pure anatase phase grew effectively in O₂ atmosphere. When the films were fabricated at a substrate temperature of 400°C, their phase structures were greatly affected by the O₂ gas pressure, and nearly pure anatase phase with typical (101) and (004) peaks can be obtained under an O₂ pressure of 15 Pa. For the deposition at 700°C, the crystal structure of the TiO₂ films exhibited a strong anatase (004) peak and was inert to the oxygen pressures. Two modes, namely a substrate-temperature-controlled mode and an oxygen-pressure-controlled mode, were considered for the growth of the anatase TiO₂ films under different substrate temperatures. In addition, the optical and photocatalytic properties were found to be sensitive to both the microstructure and grain size of the TiO₂ films.     

Effects of nitrogen doping on optical properties of TiO2 thin films

The potential for extending the optical absorption range of TiO₂ by doping with nonmetallic elements was examined in nitrogen-containing TiO₂ thin films. Thin films of TiO_2-xN_x were synthesized on glass and silicon substrates by ion-beam-assisted deposition to obtain a wide range of nitrogen concentrations. The compositions of the films were determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The structures of the films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The optical properties of the films were measured by UV-Vis spectroscopy and ellipsometry. A characteristic decreasing trend in band-gap values of the films was observed within a certain range of increasing dopant concentrations. As the nitrogen concentration increased, the structure of the films evolved from a well-defined anatase to deformed anatase. The reduced band gaps are associated with the N 2p orbital in the TiO_2-xN_x films. PACS 78.66.-w; 78.20.Ci     

Effect of substrate bias voltage on the structure, electric and dielectric properties of TiO2 thin films by DC magnetron sputtering

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) films have been deposited on glass and p-silicon (1 0 0) substrates by DC magnetron sputtering technique to investigate their structural, electrical and optical properties. The surface composition of the TiO₂ films has been analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The TiO₂ films formed on unbiased substrates were amorphous. Application of negative bias voltage to the substrate transformed the amorphous TiO₂ into polycrystalline as confirmed by Raman spectroscopic studies. Thin film capacitors with configuration of Al/TiO₂/p-Si have been fabricated. The leakage current density of unbiased films was 1 × 10⁻⁶ A/cm² at a gate bias voltage of 1.5 V and it was decreased to 1.41 × 10⁻⁷ A/cm² with the increase of substrate bias voltage to −150 V owing to the increase in thickness of interfacial layer of SiO₂. Dielectric properties and AC electrical conductivity of the films were studied at various frequencies for unbiased and biased at −150 V. The capacitance at 1 MHz for unbiased films was 2.42 × 10⁻¹⁰ F and it increased to 5.8 × 10⁻¹⁰ F in the films formed at substrate bias voltage of −150 V. Dielectric constant of TiO₂ films were calculated from capacitance–voltage measurements at 1 MHz frequency. The dielectric constant of unbiased films was 6.2 while those formed at −150 V it increased to 19. The optical band gap of the films decreased from 3.50 to 3.42 eV with the increase of substrate bias voltage from 0 to −150 V.     

Photocatalytic nano-optical trapping using TiO2 nanosphere pairs mediated with Mie-scattered near field

The localized enhanced near field on nanostructures has been attracting much attention for a template for size-selective optical trapping (tweezers) beyond the diffraction limit. The near-field optical trapping has mainly been studied using metallic substrates such as Au nanodot pairs, periodic Al nanoslits, nanoapertures on an Au film, etc. In this paper, we newly propose a Mie-scattered-near-field optical trapping scheme for size-selective photocatalytic application using pairs of poly-rutile TiO₂ nanospheres. The optical intensity distribution in a 3D-nanogap space between the nanospheres was simulated by a 3D FDTD method. The simulation system consists of the two TiO₂ nanospheres placed on a silica substrate in water. The 400-nm excitation laser is used for both the near-field trapping and the photocatalyst excitation. The optical trapping forces were calculated based on the near-field optical intensity distribution. The trapping stiffness for 20-nm polystyrene sphere at a gap distance of 20 nm was 6.4 pN/nm/W. The optical force vector shows that the object like virus can be trapped with sufficient forces into the nanogap space and then is driven into the direct surface of the TiO₂ sphere. This result suggests that this system works as a photocatalytic trapping for killing virus, protein, etc.     

多孔TiO2/Al/SiO2纳米复合结构的紫外光吸收特性研究

在SiO₂玻璃衬底上用脉冲激光沉积(PLD)技术，分别沉积Ti和Ti/Al膜，经电化学阳极氧化成功制备了多孔TiO₂/SiO₂和TiO₂/Al/SiO₂纳米复合结构. 其中TiO₂薄膜上的微孔阵列高度有序，分布均匀. 实验研究了Al过渡层对多孔TiO₂薄膜光吸收特性的影响. 结果表明：无Al过渡层的多孔TiO₂薄膜其紫外吸收峰在27     

Substrate effects on the oxygen gas sensing properties of SnO2/TiO2 thin films

In this study, SnO₂/TiO₂ thin films are fabricated on SiO₂/Si and Corning glass 1737 substrates using a R.F. magnetron sputtering process. The gas sensing properties of these films under an oxygen atmosphere with and without UV irradiation are carefully examined. The surface structure, morphology, optical transmission characteristics, and chemical compositions of the films are analyzed by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and PL spectrometry. It is found that the oxygen sensitivity of the films deposited on Corning glass 1737 substrates is significantly lower than that of the films grown on SiO₂/Si substrates. Therefore, the results suggest that SiO₂/Si is an appropriate substrate material for oxygen gas sensors fabricated using thin SnO₂/TiO₂ films.     

Effect of crystalline structure of TiO2 substrates on initial growth of atomic layer deposited Ru thin films

Ru thin films were grown on polymorphic TiO₂ thin film substrates at 230 and 250 °C by atomic layer deposition using 2,4-(dimethylpentadienyl)(ethylcyclopentadienyl)Ru and an O₂ gas. While the Ru films grown on amorphous and rutile TiO₂ substrates showed a relatively long incubation cycle number of approximately 350 and 100 at 230 and 250 °C, respectively, the Ru films grown on anatase TiO₂ substrates exhibited a significantly shorter incubation delay which was attributed to the catalytic activity of anatase TiO₂. This difference in the incubation cycle affected the surface morphology of the Ru films on different TiO₂ substrates.     

Fabrication of hydrophobic surface of titanium dioxide films by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) films were fabricated on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, optical absorption and contact angle measurement were applied to study the structural, surface morphological, optical and surface wettability properties of the as-deposited and annealed TiO₂ films. The X-ray diffraction studies revealed both as-deposited and annealed TiO₂ films are amorphous. Irregular shaped spherical grains of random size and well covered to the fluorine doped tin oxide coated glass substrates were observed from SEM studies with some cracks after annealing. The optical band gap values of virgin TiO_2, annealed, methyl violet and rose bengal sensitized TiO₂ were found to be 3.6, 3.5, 2.87 and 2.95 eV, respectively. Surface wettability studied in contact with liquid interface, showed hydrophobic nature as water contact angles were greater than 90°. The adsorption of dyes, as confirmed by the photographs, is one of the prime requirements for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC).     

Direct imprinting of ordered and dense TiO2 nanopore arrays by using a soft template for photovoltaic applications

Highly ordered and dense TiO₂ nanopore arrays are directly nanoimprinted on a transparent conductive glass substrate by using a polymethylmethacrylate/polydimethylsiloxane (PMMA/PDMS) composite soft template, which is replicated from an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) replica mold. Results indicate that heat infiltration under vacuum conditions can ensure complete filling of PMMA into the AAO pores, and that free-standing PMMA nanorods with an aspect ratio more than 5 can be obtained by adjusting the AAO pore depth based on a freeze-drying technique. TiO₂ nanopore arrays with different diameters from 30 to 300 nm and inter-pore distances between 70 and 450 nm can be easily fabricated by using the corresponding templates with different sizes. Preliminary solar cells are also assembled with a heterojunction of conjugated polymer/TiO₂ nanopore arrays. Results indicate that the construction of poly-(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)/TiO₂ nanopore arrays can be more helpful in quenching the PL emission of P3HT than that of P3HT/flat TiO₂ film, and a maximum efficiency of about 0.32% can be obtained for a photovoltaic device with a TiO₂/[6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)/P3HT structure.     

多孔TiO2/Al/SiO2纳米复合结构的紫外光吸收特性研究

在SiO₂玻璃衬底上用脉冲激光沉积(PLD)技术,分别沉积Ti和Ti/Al膜,经电化学阳极氧化成功制备了多孔TiO₂/SiO₂和TiO₂/Al/SiO₂纳米复合结构. 其中TiO₂薄膜上的微孔阵列高度有序,分布均匀. 实验研究了Al过渡层对多孔TiO₂薄膜光吸收特性的影响. 结果表明：无Al过渡层的多孔TiO₂薄膜其紫外吸收峰在27 关键词： 2薄膜')" href="#">多孔TiO₂薄膜 阳极氧化 紫外光吸收     

Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser direct micro-cutting and profiling of graphene

Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide composite thin films were prepared on Corning 7059 glass substrates by co-sputtering. The reactive gas-surroundings used was ultrahigh purity oxygen. To analyze the structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of the ZnO?CTiO₂ samples, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical absorption, Raman spectroscopy and methylene blue bleaching were carried out at room temperature. XRD patterns indicate the presence of TiO₂ (anatase and rutile phases), ZnO, ZnTiO₃, and Zn₂TiO₄ crystalline structures. AFM images allow the observation of non-homogeneous surface in the ZnO?CTiO₂ system, suggesting the separation of different crystalline phases in the composite. Raman studies exhibit different spectra in the films depending on the area analyzed, which can be interpreted as a result of the existence of well separated crystalline regions as seen in AFM images. The photocatalytic activity (PA) of TiO₂?CZnO?CZnTiO₃?CZn₂TiO₄ composite, as expected for adequate coupling semiconductors, is larger than PA of ZnO and TiO₂ oxides, used as references. A simple proposal about the probable alignment of the conduction band, the valence band, and the Fermi level is included.     

Structural, electrical and optical properties of TiO2 doped WO3 thin films

TiO₂ doped WO₃ thin films were deposited onto glass substrates and fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated conducting glass substrates, maintained at 500 °C by pyrolytic decomposition of adequate precursor solution. Equimolar ammonium tungstate ((NH₄)₂WO₄) and titanyl acetyl acetonate (TiAcAc) solutions were mixed together at pH 9 in volume proportions and used as a precursor solution for the deposition of TiO₂ doped WO₃ thin films. Doping concentrations were varied between 4 and 38%. The effect of TiO₂ doping concentration on structural, electrical and optical properties of TiO₂ doped WO₃ thin films were studied. Values of room temperature electrical resistivity, thermoelectric power and band gap energy (E_g) were estimated. The films with 38% TiO₂ doping in WO₃ exhibited lowest resistivity, n-type electrical conductivity and improved electrochromic performance among all the samples. The values of thermoelectric power (TEP) were in the range of 23-56 μV/K and the direct band gap energy varied between 2.72 and 2.86 eV.     

Effect of additives and precursor chemical structure on crystalline shape and optical properties of TiO2

This paper proposes a new simple approach for synthetic of shape-defined anatase nanocuboids TiO₂ by using combination of titanium tetra isopropoxide (TTIP) and orthotitanic acid (H₄TiO₄) as titanium precursor. In first step by adding precursor to ethanol solution mixed with HCl the primary sol has been prepared, therefore two other different films by adding Methylcellulose (MC) as a carbon containing material and adding TiO₂ nanopowder as nanofiller have been prepared and properties of thin film as a function of parameters of annealing temperature and additives, have been discussed. The films were deposited on glass substrates and characterized by using UV–vis spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM results show that optical properties of TiO₂ thin films were changed by baking in 300, 400 and 500 °C as annealing temperature. Moreover, they indicate that the additives have strong effect on anatase structure and therefore influence the optical properties.