Defect engineering of titanium dioxide

The present work reports the measurements of defect-related properties, such as electrical properties, may be used for "in situ" monitoring of TiO2-based oxide semiconductors during processing at elevated temperatures and also during cooling. It is shown that such "in situ" monitoring of defect-related properties allows to conduct the process in a controlled manner. The data obtained during the "in situ" monitoring may be used for instantaneous modification of processing conditions, such as temperature, oxygen activity, the time of annealing and cooling rate, in order to achieve the desired properties. The procedure of "in situ" monitoring is represented by the experimental data of the electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power during oxidation and reduction at 1198 K. The effect of oxygen activity on the electrical conductivity for pure and Nb-doped TiO2 is considered in terms of defect disorder