(TiO2)1–x(TaON)x Solid Solution for Band Engineering of Anatase TiO2

Band engineering of anatase TiO2 was achieved by means of an anatase (TiO2)1–x(TaON)x (TTON) solid solution. Epitaxial thin films of TTON (0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.9) were synthesized by nitrogen plasma-assisted pulsed laser deposition on (LaAlO3)0.3(SrAl0.5Ta0.5O3)0.7 substrates. Epitaxial growth of anatase TTON was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The lattice constants of the TTON thin films increased with TaON content in accordance with Vegard’s law, indicating formation of a complete solid solution. The bandgaps, band alignment, and refractive indices of the TTON thin films were investigated by combination of spectroscopic ellipsometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The bandgap of the anatase TTON systematically decreased with increasing x, mainly because of an upward shift in the valence band maximum caused by broadening of the valence band as a result of hybridization of the shallow N 2p orbital. The position of the conduction band minimum was rather insensitive to chemical composition, which makes the band alignment of anatase TTON suitable for photocatalytic water splitting with visible light. The refractive index of anatase TTON monotonically increased with an increase in x.