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Home / Journals / ENERGY / Online First / doi:10.32604/ee.2026.082739
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ARTICLE

Investigation of Sputtered TiO2 Thin Films and Modeling of TiO2-Based Heterojunctions with p-Si and p-GaAs

Sana Handor1,*, Mohamed Manoua2, Mohamed Sahlaoui1, Laura Hrostea3, Mustapha Adar4, Mohammed Sajieddine1, Liviu Leontie3, Abdelati Razouk1,*
1 Energy and Materials Engineering Laboratory (LGEM), Faculty of Science and Technology, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni-Mellal, Morocco
2 Material Sciences Unit (USM), DERS, National Center for Energy, Sciences and Nuclear Techniques (CNESTEN), Rabat, Morocco
3 Research Center on Advanced Materials and Technologies (RAMTECH), Department of Exact and Natural Sciences, Institute of Interdisciplinary Research, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, 11 bd. Carol I, Iasi, Romania
4 Laboratory of Industrial Engineering and Surface Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University Sultan Moulay Slimane, Beni Mellal, Morocco
* Corresponding Author: Sana Handor. Email: email; Abdelati Razouk. Email: email
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances and Emerging Trends in Photovoltaic Technologies, Energy Storage, and Green Hydrogen)

Energy Engineering https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2026.082739

Received 21 March 2026; Accepted 07 May 2026; Published online 01 June 2026

Abstract

In this study, thin films of titanium dioxide (TiO2) were deposited onto glass and indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates at room temperature, using plasma-assisted pulsed DC sputtering with a 99.9% pure stoichiometric TiO2 target. Our research aims to investigate the influence of film thickness on the optical, structural, and morphological properties of TiO2 nanostructured thin films, as well as its impact on the photovoltaic performance of heterojunctions where TiO2 serves as the emitter. Using advanced PRISA software, parameters such as refractive index, film thickness, and band gap energy were determined. Spectrophotometry analysis shows that TiO2 thin film samples exhibited up to 90% optical transparency in the UV-Vis spectral region. Using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed an amorphous phase, particularly at lower scan angles, while atomic force microscopy (AFM) images show an homogeneous surface of deposited films with low roughness. A notable reduction in the optical band gap was observed with increasing film thickness. Finally, numerical simulations of TiO2/p-Si and TiO2/p-GaAs heterojunction Solar cells, performed using Atlas SILVACO software, predict promising photovoltaic performance based on the optical data of the elaborated TiO2 thin films.

Keywords

Titanium dioxide (TiO2); magnetron sputtering (MS); PRISA; Atlas SILVACO; TiO2 based heterojunctions; solar cell

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