@Article{ee.2026.082739,
AUTHOR = {Sana Handor, Mohamed Manoua, Mohamed Sahlaoui, Laura Hrostea, Mustapha Adar, Mohammed Sajieddine, Liviu Leontie, Abdelati Razouk},
TITLE = {Investigation of Sputtered TiO<sub><b>2</b></sub> Thin Films and Modeling of TiO<sub><b>2</b></sub>-Based Heterojunctions with p-Si and p-GaAs},
JOURNAL = {Energy Engineering},
VOLUME = {123},
YEAR = {2026},
NUMBER = {9},
PAGES = {0--0},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/energy/v123n9/68319},
ISSN = {1546-0118},
ABSTRACT = {In this study, thin films of titanium dioxide (TiO<sub>2</sub>) 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 TiO<sub>2</sub> target. Our research aims to investigate the influence of film thickness on the optical, structural, and morphological properties of TiO<sub>2</sub> nanostructured thin films, as well as its impact on the photovoltaic performance of heterojunctions where TiO<sub>2</sub> 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 TiO<sub>2</sub> 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 TiO<sub>2</sub>/p-Si and TiO<sub>2</sub>/p-GaAs heterojunction Solar cells, performed using Atlas SILVACO software, predict promising photovoltaic performance based on the optical data of the elaborated TiO<sub>2</sub> thin films.},
DOI = {10.32604/ee.2026.082739}
}