Fabrication of titanium oxide films at low temperature from aqueous solution

Titanium oxide thin films were prepared on self-assembled monolayers-coated silicon substrate using layer-by-layer self-assembly method and chemical bath deposition from an aqueous solution. The effects of temperature on structural properties, thickness and morphologies of titanium oxide thin films were investigated. The results show that the absorption peak of peroxo complexes of titanium at 410 nm decreases gradually with increasing the temperature. The deposited films consisting of titanium oxide nanocrystals are believed to be fully amorphous by XRD. Titanium oxide thin films fabricated at 60 °C for 2 h are continuous, dense and homogeneous with a size in the range of 20-40 nm by SEM. The chemical compositions of deposited thin films were studied by EDS, and the mole ratio of O to Ti is 2.2:1.