Effect of annealing temperature on the optical and electrical properties of Mg doped TiO2 thin films

Abstract

In order to achieve high conductivity and transmittance of transparent conducting oxide (TCO), we attempted to fabricate Mg doped TiO₂ (Mg_0.01Ti_0.99O₂) thin films and characterized them for their structural and optical properties. The materials is prepared by modified sol-gel route. Mg_0.01Ti_0.99O₂ thin films have been deposited on glass substrate by doctor's blade technique. The structure of the films was confirmed to be tetragonal and particle size were estimated to be ≈11.1 nm from XRD analysis. The optical property study in the same range shows higher value of absorbance in comparison to the pure TiO₂ film after the wavelength 425 nm. The band gap is estimated to be much lower than pure TiO₂ (3.2 eV).  So, the study shows that doping a small amount of Mg can enhance the visible light absorption in the epitaxial thin film which can be a suitable material for use in solar cell to trap the solar-radiation.