Energy-level and optical properties of nitrogen doped TiO2: An experimental and theoretical study

Photoacoustic spectroscopy was used to study nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide film. The energy positions of defect and impurity centre levels are reported. The energy levels were obtained using the excitation method and the mechanisms of the photoacoustic signal generation are discussed. The visible light absorption of the yellow film was explained considering electronic transitions between localized states within the band gap and the transitions from these states into the conduction band. Moreover, first principles calculations revealed that nitrogen doping and oxygen vacancies in titanium dioxide induce defect levels within the gap which account for the absorption in the visible light. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3664104]