Room temperature deposition of highly dense TiO2 thin films by Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc

A systematic study of TiO2 films deposited by dc filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) was carried out by varying the deposition parameters in a reactive oxygen atmosphere. The influence of the oxygen partial pressure on film properties is analyzed. Composition was obtained by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) measurements, which also allow us to obtain the density of the films. Morphology of the samples was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and their optical properties by ellipsometry. Transparent, very dense and stoichiometric TiO2 films were obtained by FCVA at room temperature.