Role of thickness on the optical and electrical properties of physically evaporated TiO2 thin films and silicon-based n-TiO2/p-Si heterojunction (HJ) configurations
摘要
TiO2 thin films of about 50, 100, and 150 nm thicknesses and their n-TiO2/p-Si heterojunctions (HJs) were prepared by physical evaporation of TiO2 powders. The role of thickness on the electrical properties of the HJ diodes and the optical properties of the films were compared. The morphological roughness and granularity of the films were determined by the SEM imaging. UV–vis spectroscopy of the films showed that the optical transmittance and bandgap values decreased with increasing thickness, whilst the refractive index, extinction coefficient, and Urbach energy increased. The 50 nm thick TiO2 thin film has a relatively high FOM value of 7.99 × 10–5 Ω−1. Electrical characteristics of the HJs were studied by current–voltage (I–V), and capacitance/conductance–voltage (C/G–V) measurements with the thickness variable. Important diode parameters of the HJs such as ideality factor (