modification of electrical and optical properties by incorporating mn, ta and nb dopants into tio2-based thin layer utilizing powder-based physical vapor deposition (ppvd) technique

Powder-based physical vapor deposition (ppvd) was utilized to deposit doped tio2 thin layers to modify electronic and optical properties. the modification was performed using several dopants (mno2, ta2o5, nb2o5) at different concentrations (0.05 and 0.1 mol%), respectively. the structural characterization by fesem revealed that the size of the grain varied with regard to the dopants. the sample doped at a lower concentration demonstrated a larger crystallite size than the sample doped at a higher concentration. this trend is consistent with the measured grain size of the doped thin layer samples. the nonlinearity coefficient (α) and breakdown voltage (at lower ranges) were enhanced as the dopant concentration in the tio2 lattice increased due to grain size reduction. the optical properties of the doped tio2 thin layers concerning energy bandgap demonstrated an enhancement trend with the addition of the dopant, as revealed by uv-vis reflectance analysis. the enhancement of electrical and optical properties is attributed to forming a barrier layer surrounding the grains, which increased the conductivity of the doped tio2 thin layers sample. this study demonstrates the feasibility of the ppvd method in producing a dense, thin layer structure for potential applications in optical and electrical sectors.