Influence of substrate on the structure of predominantly anatase TiO₂ films grown by reactive sputtering

TiO₂ films are grown on LaAlO₃ (001), Si (100) and SiO₂ substrates by reactive radio frequency sputtering. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pole figures revealed important characteristics about the texture and phase distribution on those films. Combined with spectroscopic ellipsometry, the pole figures allowed the analysis of the growth characteristics over the whole volume of the layers. Details in the microstructure of the films were probed using transmission electron spectroscopy. Anatase is the dominating phase in the films grown on all substrates. On TiO₂/LaAlO₃ fims, the mosaicity is very low, so that the pole figure closely resembles that of anatase monocrystals. Detailed inspection of XRD pole figures reveals a small amount of rutile in the TiO₂/LaAlO₃ films. For the growth of TiO₂ onto SiO₂, rutile and brookite phases are also detected. Transmission electron microscopy and XRD results show the formation of anatase {112} twins in films grown on the different substrates, suggesting that the anatase {112} twin mediates the growth of rutile and brookite phases. Optical results are in agreement with the XRD observations: the optical properties of TiO₂/LaAlO₃ films are similar to the ordinary values of bulk anatase crystals, indicating the orientation of the film in the [001] direction, whereas results for TiO₂/SiO₂ are compatible with lower crystalline ordering.