Synergetic effect of Sb ion implantation on the optical and structural properties of single crystal rutile TiO2 (110)

The present study investigates the synergetic influence of Sb ion implantation on the optical and structural properties of single crystal rutile TiO2 (110). The Implantation was carried out at various fluences using 2 MeV Sb ions. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Photoluminescence studies reveal the occurrence of an ion-induced annealing process which is remarkably responsible for the healing of defect states in the absence of any thermal treatment. Surprisingly, the ion-induced annealing appears to get activated only for the fluences of 1 x 10(15) ions/cm(2) and higher. At the fluence of 5 x 10(15) ions/cm(2), reduction in defect states, increase in crystallinity, increase in the photo absorption response (130 % in visible and 165 % in ultraviolet range), improved band-edge luminescence, and bandgap reduction (by similar to 0.26 eV) is observed. The ion-induced annealing process effectively improves photo absorption properties without any thermal treatment. These results can play a pivotal role in photocatalysis applications.

Automated summary

This study investigates the synergetic influence of Sb ion implantation on the optical and structural properties of single crystal rutile TiO2 (110). The results show that ion-induced annealing process effectively improves photo absorption properties without any thermal treatment, and can play a pivotal role in photocatalysis applications.