Effect of Annealed Temperatures on the Morphology of TiO2 Films

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) films were prepared by dip-coating method on the glass slide substrates at room temperature. The TiO2 solution was synthesized from titanium tetraisopropoxide:Ti(OC₃H₇)₄ in isopropanol at molar ratio 1:4. This research focus on the surface and roughness of TiO₂ films which were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). In the first experiment, TiO2 films were deposited at 1, 5, 10 and 15 layers and annealed at 500 °C. Then, the films which were deposited for 15 layers were chosen to be annealed at different temperatures of 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 °C. The results showed that, when the number of film layers increased, the grain sizes were clearly observed. The grain size depended on the annealing temperature. It was found that at the temperature of 300 to 500 °C, the grain sizes were 30-40 nm.