In this study, thin films of titanium dioxide (TiO2) were deposited onto glass and indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates at room temperature, using plasma-assisted pulsed DC sputtering with a 99.9% pure stoichiometric TiO2 target. Our research aims to investigate the influence of film thickness on the optical, structural, and morphological properties of TiO2 nanostructured thin films, as well as its impact on the photovoltaic performance of heterojunctions where TiO2 serves as the emitter. Using advanced PRISA software, parameters such as refractive index, film thickness, and band gap energy were determined. Spectrophotometry analysis shows that TiO2 thin film samples exhibited up to 90% optical transparency in the UV-Vis spectral region. Using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed an amorphous phase, particularly at lower scan angles, while atomic force microscopy (AFM) images show an homogeneous surface of deposited films with low roughness. A notable reduction in the optical band gap was observed with increasing film thickness. Finally, numerical simulations of TiO2/p-Si and TiO2/p-GaAs heterojunction Solar cells, performed using Atlas SILVACO software, predict promising photovoltaic performance based on the optical data of the elaborated TiO2 thin films.
Handor et al. (Thu,) studied this question.