IR spectroscopic studies of periodic columnar nanostructures of anodic titanium oxide

The experimental specimens consisted of periodic columnar nanostructures of anodic titanium oxide (average dimension≈60 nm) that were produced by anodic oxidation of the two-layer thin-film composition Ti−Al in a solution of oxalic acid that was followed by vacuum annealing. The structures formed were studied by electron microscopy and reflection IR spectroscopy. It is found that the nanodimensional columns consist predominantly of quasiamorphous Ti dioxide in the form of rutile and anatase with minimum inclusions of Ti₂O₃ and TiO. Vacuum annealing decreases the content of TiO₂ and increases that of Ti₂O₃ and TiO in the oxide columns. These changes characterize dissolution of oxygen from the composition of the columnar structures in a residual film of metallic Ti. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 2, pp. 200–204, March–April, 1998.