Optical and mechanical properties of Sol-gel prepared Titania (TiO2)-Silica (SiO2) mixed thin films 'as prepared at 300 K' without any post heat treatment

The mixed metal oxide (MMO) thin films like titania-silica (TiO2-SiO2 ) prepared by sol-gel technology have shown a variety of interesting optical, mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties; these thin films are being used in a variety of applications. In the present investigation, the TiO2-SiO2 (TS) thin films (on glass substrates) are prepared at 300 K from non-aqueous individual sols of TiO2 and SiO2 of 0.1 molar (TS-1) and 0.3 molar (TS-3) concentrations; no post heat treatment has been conducted on these films. The thicknesses of the two layer (21) and four layer (4L) thin films prepared by dip coating are in the range 27 nm to 170 nm. The optical and mechanical properties of these 'as-deposited' thin films have been evaluated. The 'as-deposited' TS thin films show an optical transparency (in the visible region) of similar to 90% and optical band gaps are in the range 4.44 eV to 4.50 eV. The optical density has been calculated from the refractive index measurements. The refractive index of TS-1 thin films of thickness 27 nm is practically constant at 1.61 over the wavelength range 400-750 nm. Micro-cracks have been observed (Scanning electron micrographs) in TS-1-4L and TS-3-4L thin films. These micro cracks are more significant in TS-3-4L samples than those of TS-1-4L samples. These cracks are not seen in all other samples (TS-1-2L and TS-3-2L). These mixed titania-silica thin films show higher adherence and higher hardness compared to those of TiO2 thin films. The Raman spectroscopy measurements show the existence of multiple phases of Ti-O-Si. It is known that in the multi-phase structures, the phase boundaries hinder crack propagation and enhances the resistance to plastic deformation enhancing the mechanical hardness of these TS thin films.