INFLUENCE OF NIOBIUM, CERIUM AND IRON IMPURITIES ON PROPERTIES OF TITANIUM DIOXIDE FILMS
MOSIORI, CLIFF ORORI *
Department of Mathematics and Physics, School of Applied and Healthy Sciences, Technical University of Mombasa, P. O. Box 92840 – 80100, Mombasa, Kenya.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This article investigates the effect of some few metallic impurities that can be referred to as dopants introduced into TiO2 thin films as a host composite material. It also gives a guide on how to choice these impurities and how their influence on TiO2 thin films can be determined by measuring their n-type and p-type conductivities and their insulating characteristics or properties. It discusses three rare earth metals of niobium, cerium, and iron. It further explains how they give rise to donor and acceptor characteristics, oxygen vacancy concentrations and influence structural changes in titanium dioxide thin films. The thin films exhibit varying conductivity, structure, electronic transport, morphology and stability.
Keywords: Niobium-doped titanium oxide, cerium-doped titanium oxide, amorphization, interactive inclusion volume, abrupt bending-off, iron-doped titanium oxide