Strain Relaxation in Sol−Gel Grown Epitaxial Anatase Thin Films

Abstract

Anatase TiO2 thin films on LaAlO3 (LAO) substrates were epitaxially grown at a temperature as low as 350 °C using a simple sol−gel process. X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy showed that the anatase films have the epitaxial relationship of (001)TiO 2 ||(001)LaAlO 3 . While the low-temperature growth of the anatase film yielded a residual strain, subsequent annealing at higher temperatures can remove the strain and recover the lattice parameters of a perfect anatase crystal. Measurements of the oxygen content in the anatase films by non-Rutherford elastic resonance scattering analysis suggest that the strain relaxation during higher temperature annealing is due to the incorporation of oxygen and the concomitant annihilation of oxygen vacancies.

Highly efficient and bending durable perovskite solar cells: toward a wearable power source

“…The other sample (Bt- TiO x ) was fabricated from a butanol-based TTIP solution. 12,14 The mixed halide perovskite layer on each TiO x layer has the same crystal structure (Fig. S1(b), ESI †).…”

Two-Step Sol−Gel Method-Based TiO2 Nanoparticles with Uniform Morphology and Size for Efficient Photo-Energy Conversion Devices

“…A TiO 2 compact layer for blocking backelectron transfer was applied to the high-efficiency cells . The compact layer was formed by spin-coating the TiO 2 polymeric sol, which was prepared using a sol−gel process . The TiO 2 sol, which consists of titanium alkoxide and ethanol, was prepared as follows.…”

Growth of Epitaxial Anatase Nano Islands on SrTiO3(001) by Dip Coating

“…Thus, anatase films could be grown on SrTiO 3 (001) or LaAlO 3 (001) by electron beam evaporation for substrate temperatures between 500 and 1000 °C, although growth on SrTiO 3 (001) at 1100 °C led to a mixture of anatase and rutile phases. 29 Epitaxial films have also been grown on these substrates by low temperature solution based deposition techniques 30,31 or by hydrothermal dissolution of SrO out of SrTiO 3 . 32 In the present communication, a very simple and inexpensive wet chemical procedure is used to prepare the TiO 2 films, which crystallize into small islands of the anatase phase upon thermal annealing at 1000 °C.…”