Compositional and Structural Properties of TiO _{2− x} N _x Thin Films Deposited by Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

TiO2−xNx thin films are deposited onto Si(100) and quartz substrates by a rf magnetron sputtering method using a titanium metal disc as a target in Ar, N2, and O2 atmospheres. The substrate temperature is kept at 300°C. The O2 and Ar gas flow rates are kept to be constants and the N gas flow rate is varied. TiO2−xNx films with different N contents are characterized by x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicate that the TiO2−xNx thin films can be obtained at 13% N and 15% N contents in the film, and the films with mixed TiO2 and TiN crystal can be obtained at 13% N and 15% N contents in the film. In terms of the results of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N 1s of β-N (396 eV) is the main component in the TiO2−xNx thin films. Because the energy level of β-N is positioned above the valence-band maximum of TiO2, an effective optical-energy gap decreases from 2.8 eV (for pure TiO2 film deposited by the same rf sputtering system) to 2.3 eV, which is verified by the optical-absorption spectra.