Mn-doped TiO2 thin films with significantly improved optical and electrical properties

TiO2 thin films with various Mn doping contents were fabricated by reactive magnetron sputtering deposition at 550 degrees C and their structural, optical and electrical properties were characterized. All films were made of densely packed columnar grains with a fibrous texture along the normal direction of the substrate. The as-deposited structure in the pure TiO2 film consisted of anatase grains with the [1 0 1] texture. Mn incorporation stabilized the rutile phase and induced lattice contraction in the [1 0 0] direction. The texture in the Mn-doped films changed from [1 1 0] to [2 0 0] with increasing Mn content. The incorporation of Mn in the TiO2 lattice introduced intermediate bands into its narrowed forbidden gap, leading to remarkable red-shifts in the optical absorption edges, together with significantly improved electrical conductivity of the thin films. Hall measurement showed that the incorporation of Mn-induced p-type conductivity, with hole mobility in heavily doped TiO2 (similar to 40% Mn) being about an order higher than electron mobility in single-crystal rutile TiO2. Oxygen vacancies, on the other hand, interacted with substitutional Mn atoms to reduce its effect on optical and electrical properties.