A Molecular Approach to Ultrathin Multilayered Films of Titanium Dioxide

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe have used solution-phase inorganic chemistry to form ultrathin, covalently bonded layers of TiO2 on silicon wafers. Ellipsometry and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to monitor the growth of the films. The ellipsometric thickness of the TiO2 films increased linearly with the number of reaction cycles, the first absorption cycle resulting in about 3–4 Å of growth, and subsequent cycles resulting in about 1 Å of growth. We attribute this limited growth to the limited number of reactive sites on the surface.