Structural, morphological and 1/f noise properties of ITO/TiO2 thin films by e-beam evaporation system for optoelectronic device applications

In the present research study, ITO/TiO2 thin films were prepared on a glass substrate by using an electron beam (e-beam) evaporation system at different annealing temperatures (300, 350, 400 and 450 °C). The amorphous and crystalline natures of ITO/TiO2 structure were analyzed by X-ray diffraction study. As the grain size becomes larger, indirectly it will develop the crystalline quality of the TiO2 films studied from AFM. The surface of TiO2 films and the crystalline size of the sample were increased gradually with respect to a temperature that is observed in SEM. The elemental composition determined by the energy dispersive analysis of EDAX showed that TiO2 thin films were highly stoichiometric. Further, the higher optical transmittance (∼93%) was obtained with 450 °C annealed ITO/ TiO2 film. The optical band gap increased along with annealing temperatures (300, 350, 400 and 450 °C). All the above results of this present work can be utilized for solar cell and optoelectronic device applications.