Annealing of heterogeneous phase TiO2 films: An X-ray absorption and morphological study

► TiO2 films by pulsed magnetron sputtering with heterogeneous morphology and structure. ► In-situ XANES study of the structural evolution upon thermal annealing. ► Amorphous TiO2 with anatase-like local-order structure. ► Preferential crystallization of anatase from the amorphous state. ► Surface morphology correlation with structural changes.