Preparation of nanostructured Bi-modified TiO₂ thin films by crossed-beam laser ablation plasmas

The preparation and characterization of titanium dioxide thin films modified with different amounts of bismuth using a two laser ablation plasmas configuration is reported. The plasmas were produced ablating simultaneously two different targets, one of bismuth and other of titanium dioxide, using a Nd:YAG laser with emission in the fundamental line. The elemental composition, together with the vibrational and optical properties of the deposited films were investigated as a function of the parameters of the bismuth plasma. The composition of the thin films was determined from measurements of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The structural modification of the deposited material, due to the incorporation of Bi, was characterized by Raman spectroscopy. The optical properties were determined from UV-Vis spectroscopy measurements. It is found that bismuth incorporation has an important effect on the optical properties of TiO₂ narrowing the band gap from 3.2 to 2.5 eV.