Preparation and Optical Properties of TiO₂-SiO₂ thin films by Sol-gel Dipping Method

TiO₂, SiO₂ and TiO₂-SiO₂ thin films were prepared by sol-gel dipping method on glass substrates. The pyrolysis behavior of TiO₂ and SiO₂ dry gel were tested by differential thermal analysis (DTA). The microstructure and optical properties of the TiO₂, SiO₂ and TiO₂- SiO₂ were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometer. The results showed that the phase structure of the films was affected by the composition. All the films were transparent in the visible region. Meanwhile, the transparency of SiO₂ was better than TiO₂ and TiO₂-SiO₂ composite film. The ban-gap of the TiO₂, SiO₂ and TiO₂-SiO₂ thin films were 3.79, 4.01 and 3.91. (paper)