Surface chemistry and optical property of TiO2 thin films treated by low-pressure plasma

The low temperature RF plasma treatment was used to control the surface chemistry and optical property of TiO2 thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering with a very good uniformity at 300 °C substrate heating temperature. The XRD pattern indicates the crystalline structure of the film could be associated to amorphous structure of TiO2 in thin film. The plasma treatment of TiO2 film can increase the proportion of Ti3+ in Ti2p and decrease in carbon atoms as alcohol/ether group in C1s at the surface. The optical transmittance of the film was enhanced by 50% after the plasma treatment. The surface structure and morphology remain the same for untreated and low-pressure plasma-treated films. Therefore, increase in the optical transmission could be due to change in surface chemistry and surface cleaning by plasma treatment.