Investigation of electrical and optical properties of TiO2:Pd, TiO2:(Eu,Pd) and TiO2:(Tb,Pd) thin films

Integration of electronics and photonics causes greater requirement for development of electrical and optical activated thin films for a new field of application known as transparent electronics. One of the key materials which is necessary for production of functional elements in transparent electronics devices are transparent oxides semiconductors (TOSs). The TOSs can be applied in many practical applications, for example as electrodes in liquid crystal displays or as a coatings in smart windows, optical devices, solar cells etc. In this work subject of research are the thin films fabricated based on TiO₂ as a matrix with particular dopants (Pd, Eu, Tb). The thin films were prepared by modified high-energy magnetron sputtering method and deposited on various substrates. The electrical and optical properties of the samples were characterized by means of optical transmission spectroscopy, thermoelectrical and current to voltage (I-V) measurements. It has been shown that incorporation of selected dopants into TiO₂ matrix allows us to obtain the thin films with resistivity of about 60 Omegacm in the room temperature, good transparency, equal to 50% and desired type of electrical conduction p TiO₂:(Tb, Pd) or n TiO₂:(Eu, Pd) in the room temperature.