Microstructure of titanium oxide films investigated by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy

Abstract Titanium oxide films prepared on Si(1 0 0) by Xe + ion beam bombardment during deposition were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It has been found that the film is very dense and the roughness is larger than that of the film without ion bombardment. There is a Ti–O and Si–O amorphous layer at the TiO 2 –Si interface formed by Xe + bombardment. TiO 2 and Si exist following orientation relationship: (1 0 0) TiO 2 //(2 0 0)Si, (0 1 1)TiO 2 //(0-22)Si and [0-11]TiO 2 //[0 1 1]Si. A small fraction of Ti 2 O 3 in the corundum structure is found to coexist with TiO 2 grains.