Thin Film growth and characterization of Ti doped ZnO by RF/DC magnetron sputtering

Thin film Ti doped ZnO (Ti-ZnO) film were grown on sapphire (0001) substrate by RF and DC magnetron sputtering. Films were grown at a substrate temperature of 250 °C with different Ti/Zn concentration. Surface chemical study of the samples was performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the stoichiometry and Ti/Zn ratio for all samples. Surface morphology of the samples were studied by atomic force microscopy. X-ray diffraction was carried out to determine the crystallinity of the film. No secondary phases of Ti x O y was observed. We observed a slight increase in the lattice constant with the increase in Ti concentration in ZnO. No ferromagnetic signal was observed for any of the samples. However, some samples showed super-paramagnetic phase.