Study on dark specific resistance of Au-TiO2 nanogranular films

TiO2 films embedding Au nanoparticles were prepared by the reactive magnetr on sputtering method. Transmission electronic microscopy was used to study the structure of the films and the size of Au particles. The size and the d ensity of Au particles had significant impact on dark specific resistance o f the films. With the increasing number of Au particles, the specific resis tance of the films experienced a rising phase, followed by a drop. The enha ncement of photocatalytic reactivity of the films was attributed to the con tact of a metal-conductor. Based on the experimental results of the photoca talytic reactivity of the films, the mechanisms of the change of dark speci fic resistance were studied. It was found that the increase of specific res istance with the incorporation of Au particles was ascribed to the Schottky barrier rather than to the size quantization effects of Au nanoparticles. (C) 2001 American Vacuum Society.