Influence of annealing temperature on nano-stracture of Ti-Oxide thin films

Titanium films of 37.6 nm thickness were deposited on stainless steel type 304, and they were post-annealed under flow of oxygen at different temperatures. The structure of the films was analysed using RBS, XRD and AFM. The results showed an initial reduction of the grain size and surface roughness at 473 K annealing temperature, but grain size and surface roughness increased at higher temperatures. It is observed that the crystallographic structure of the film goes through a sudden change at 943 K annealing temperature and three phases of titanium oxide (i.e., rutile, anatase and brokite) are formed. The RBS spectra showed that oxygen density and penetration depth in the sample increased with annealing temperature.