Effect of rapid thermal annealing on nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films synthesized by swift heavy ion irradiation

► Nanostructured thin films of TiO2 prepared by swift heavy ion irradiation. ► Effect of Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) on nanostructured TiO2 thin films. ► Surface modification, structural and optical property change observed after RTA processing is attributed to defect annihilation.