A systematical investigation of layer growth rate, impurity level and morphology evolution in TiO2 thin films grown by ALD between 100 and 300 °C

TiO2 thin films prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) have attracted great attention due to the widespread application of the oxide as a promising charge storage material for lithium or proton batteries. In this work, we study TiO2 film grown on Si substrates by atomic layer deposition with tetrakis (dimethylamino) titanium as metal precursor (TDMAT) and water vapour as an oxidant. The chemical composition and impurity content of the film as a function of growth temperature is studied by Ion Beam Analysis (IBA). D2O (99.8%) was used as oxidant to study the film growth to distinguish between hydrogen atoms originating from the water oxidant or the metal precursor. Combining ellipsometry with Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) and Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA) reveals film density as a function of growth temperature. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to characterize the film surface structure. By investigating the structural and compositional range of ALD TiO2 films will open the new opportunities of application.