Modification of the microstructure and electronic properties of rutile TiO2 thin films with 79 MeV Br ion irradiation

Modifications induced by 79 MeV Br ions in rutile titanium dioxide thin films, synthesized by dc magnetron sputtering are presented. Irradiations did not induce any new XRD peak corresponding to any other phase. The area and the width of the XRD peaks were considerably affected by irradiation, and peaks shifted to lower angles. But the samples retained their crystallinity at the highest fluence (1 x 10(13) ions cm(-2)) of irradiation even though the electronic energy loss of 79 MeV Br ions far exceeds the reported threshold value for amorphization of rutile TiO2. Fitting of the fluence dependence of the XRD peak area to Poisson equation yielded the radius of ion tracks as 2.4 nm. Ion track radius obtained from the simulation based on the thermal spike model matches closely with that obtained from the fluence dependence of the area under XRD peaks. Williamson-Hall analysis of the XRD spectra indicated broadening and shifting of the peaks are a consequence of irradiation induced defect accumulation leading to microstrains, as was also indicated by Raman and UV-Visible absorption study. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.