Raman study of the comparative effects of conventional and microwave annealing on MgTiO${}_3$ thin films sputtered on Si substrate

The impact of conventional and microwave annealing (CA and MA, respectively) on MgTiO${}_3$ thin films sputtered on a silicon substrate has been investigated by Raman spectroscopy. This article studies the impact of temperature, time, and atmosphere used for CA and MA on the structural properties of these layers. The results show that the MgTiO${}_3$ film crystallinity is better after an MA performed at 800 °C for 5 min under air atmosphere. At the same time, the oxygen vacancies density in the layer is lower. Moreover, the occurrence of the TiO${}_2$, Mg${}_2$TiO${}_4$, and MgTi${}_2$O${}_5$ phases after CA and MA is strongly dependent on the temperature, time, and atmosphere of the annealing process as well as the type of annealing. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the impact of MA on the structural properties of MgTiO${}_3$ films has been compared to that of CA and studied by Raman spectroscopy. (© 2022 Wiley‐VCH GmbH)