Structural properties characterization of TiO2 thin films prepared by sol-gel process on Si and Ge based substrates

TiO₂ films were deposited on different substrates such as SiN_x/Si, SiO_x/Si, Si and Ge by a sol-gel method. The structural properties of the films were investigated by XRD, SEM and XPS. The results showed that the substrates played a crucial role in the crystalline quality and materials stoichiometry of sol-gel derived TiO₂ films. Especially, the film deposited on SiN_x/Si substrate had a better crystalline quality and materials stoichiometry than other samples because the SiN_x layer can effectively reduce defects formation resulting from oxygen deficiency.