Abstract
In this work, we present characterization of titanium oxide thin films by photoacoustic measurements to determine the ablation threshold and phase transitions from amorphous to crystalline states. The important advantages of this method are that it does not require amplification at the detection stage and that it is a non-destructive technique. The correlation analysis of the photoacoustic signals allows us to visualize the ablation threshold and the phase transitions with enhanced sensitivity. This correlation analysis clearly exhibits the changes in the thin-film morphology due to controlled variations of the fluence (energy/area) and the temperature of the surrounding medium. This is particularly important for those cases where the crystalline changes caused by temperature variations need to be monitored. The thin-film samples were prepared by the sputtering technique at room temperature in the amorphous state. The phase transformations were induced by controlled temperature scanning and then corroborated with Raman spectroscopy measurements.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
W.F. Zhang, Y.L. He, M.S. Zhang, Z. Yin, Q. Chen, J. Phys. D, Appl. Phys. 33, 912 (2000)
C.-C. Ting, S.-Y. Chen, D.-M. Liu, J. Appl. Phys. 88, 4628 (2000)
M.A.C. López, L.E. Alarcón, E.H. Poniatowski, Appl. Phys. A 78, 59 (2004)
E. Haro, Z.S. Xu, J.-F. Morhange, M. Balkanski, Phys. Rev. B 32, 969 (1985)
P. Arun, A.G. Vedeshwar, N.C. Mehra, J. Phys. D, Appl. Phys. 32, 183 (1999)
L.K. Malhotra, Y. Sripathi, G.B. Reddy, Bull. Mater. Sci. 18, 725 (1995)
Y. Zhang, X. Ma, P. Chen, D. Yang, J. Cryst. Growth 300, 551 (2007)
W. Li, C. Ni, H. Lin, C.P. Huang, S.I. Shah, J. Appl. Phys. 96, 6663 (2004)
A.S. Barnard, P. Zapol, L.A. Curtiss, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 1, 107 (2005)
R.C. Guzmán, M.V. Muniz, J.M.S. Blesa, O.P. Martínez, Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 623 (1998)
E.V.M. Uriarte, R.C. Guzmán, M.V. Muniz, E. Camarillo, J.A. Hernández, H. Murrieta, M. Navarrete, J. Phys., Condens. Matter 15, 6889 (2003)
M.C. Marchi, R.C. Guzmán, A.P. Pacheco, S.A. Bilmes, M.V. Muniz, Int. J. Thermophys. 25, 491 (2004)
A.G. Bell, J. Sci. 20, 305 (1880)
V.S. Chivukula, M.S. Shur, D. Ciplys, Phys. Status Solidi (a) 204, 3209 (2007)
R.C. Guzman, S.J.P. Ruiz, M.V. Muniz, J.M.S. Blesa, Anal. Sci. 17, 122 (2001)
A.P. Pacheco, C. Prieto, R.C. Guzmán, J.G. López, Thin Solid Films 517, 5415 (2009)
A.C. Tam, Rev. Mod. Phys. 58, 381 (1986)
J. Yang, H. Bai, X. Tan, J. Lian, Appl. Surf. Sci. 253, 1988 (2006)
F.J. Ager, I. Justicia, R. Gerbasi, G.A. Battiston, N. McSporran, A. Figueras, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B 249, 490 (2006)
L.R.F. Rose, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 75, 723 (1984)
I. Apostol, R. Stoian, R. Dabu, A. Stratan, Appl. Surf. Sci. 136, 166 (1998)
V.V. Yakovlev, G. Scarel, C.R. Aita, S. Mochizuki, Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 1107 (2000)
N. Martin, C. Rousselot, D. Rondot, F. Palmino, R. Mercier, Thin Solid Films 300, 113 (1997)
J. Ragai, W. Lotfi, Colloids Surf. 61, 97 (1991)
R. Wang, K. Haschimoto, A. Fujishima, M. Chikuni, E. Kojima, A. Kitamura, M. Shimohigoshi, T. Watanabe, Adv. Mater. 10, 135 (1998)
A. Kolouch, M. Horáková, P. Hájková, E. Heyduková, P. Exnar, P. Spatenka, Probl. At. Sci. Techn., Ser. Plasma Phys. 12, 1998 (2006)
N. Sakai, R. Wang, A. Fujishima, T. Watanabe, K. Hashimoto, Langmuir 14, 5918 (1998)
M.A. Henderson, Surf. Sci. 355, 151 (1996)
T. Watanabe, A. Nakajima, R. Wang, M. Minabe, S. Koizumi, A. Fujishima, K. Hashimoto, Thin Solid Films 351, 260 (1999)
M. Janczarek, J. Hupka, H. Kisch, Physicochem. Probl. Mineral. Process. 40, 287 (2006)
R. Wang, N. Sakai, A. Fujishima, T. Watanabe, K. Hashimoto, J. Phys. Chem. B 103, 2188 (1999)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pérez-Pacheco, A., Castañeda-Guzmán, R., Oliva Montes de Oca, C. et al. Phase transition of TiO2 thin films detected by the pulsed laser photoacoustic technique. Appl. Phys. A 102, 699–704 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-010-5961-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-010-5961-0