Morphological, Structural and Optical Analysis of Chevronic TiO2 Thin Film Fabricated by Oblique Angle Deposition

Chevronic TiO2 thin film was fabricated using the Oblique Angle Deposition (OAD) methodology with the substrate at an 85° inclination to the perpendicular axis of the evaporation material. The chevronic TiO2 thin film so fabricated was analysed morphologically, structurally and optically. The Field Emission Gun-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FEG-SEM) image of the sample showed successfully grown chevronic/zig-zag TiO2 thin film nanostructure on silicon substrate of height ~ 260 nm of porous nature. The EDX mapping further confirmed the existence of titanium and oxygen in the sample. A weak peak at ~ 25° belonging to the crystal lattice of (101) of anatase TiO2 was observed from the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis of the sample. The UV–vis spectroscopy was also measured showing greater absorption in the ultraviolet (UV) region in comparison to the visible region in the absorption spectra. Moreover, slightly better absorption is shown by the chevronic TiO2 thin film sample as compared to the TiO2 thin film sample. A bandgap of ~ 3.29 eV was obtained from the Tauc Plot which is a slight variation from the near bandgap of ~ 2.93 eV corresponding to the Gaussian fitted peak of 423 nm wavelength in the photoluminescence spectra. Therefore, the fabricated chevronic TiO2 thin film using the simple OAD technique may be applicable for optoelectronic applications.