TiO | Optical characterization of thin films

TiO(Titanium monoxide) is a common starting material for producing TiO2 thin films. The best starting material for producing TiO2 thin films, however, will depend on the deposition conditions and type of coater employed.

Generally speaking, TiO2 is quite stable, and hence requires a considerable amount of energy to separate into individual molecules. Moreover, TiO2 tends to dissociate inside the vacuum chamber, and therefore, the oxygen partial pressure must be strictly controlled. The degree of vacuum tends to change during this deposition process. When using TiO or Ti3O5 as the starting material, the degree of vacuum tends to remain stable, but TiO requires a significantly higher oxygen partial pressure to produce TiO2 thin films.

Since TiO2 has a high index in the visible region and is considered to be one of the most useful materials in thin film technology, there has been a considerable amount of research dedicated to starting materials for TiO2 thin films.