Nitridation of the Sol–Gel‐Derived Titanium Oxide Films by Heating in Ammonia Gas

Dip‐coated sol–gel‐derived TiO 2 films on an alumina substrate were converted to nonstoichiometric titanium nitride (TiN x ( x ≦ 1)) films by heating at approxmately 1000°C in NH 3 gas. TiO 2 films made from TiO 2 sols prepared from Ti(O– i ‐C 3 H 7 ) 4 and stabilized by diethanolamine were more easily nitrided than those from sols containing HCl as a deflocculant reagent. This appears to be a result of the more porous structure of the former films.