ATOMIC LAYER EPITAXY GROWTH OF TITANIUM-DIOXIDE THIN-FILMS FROM TITANIUM ETHOXIDE

Atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) growth of titanium dioxide thin films was attempted using titanium ethoxide and water as precursors. Due to a slight self-decomposition of the titanium precursor, no completely self-controlled growth was achieved. However, the slowness of the self-decomposition process provided that the advantageous features of the ALE technique, viz., accurate thickness control, reproducibility, film uniformity, and high film density, were not essentially deteriorated. The present process is compared with those exploiting TiCl4 and titanium isopropoxide as titanium precursors.