Luminescence from band-gap photo-excitation of titanium anodic oxide films

Abstract Luminescence light from the anodic thin oxide films formed on titanium in neutral phosphate solution was measured by photo-excitation of ultra-violet light irradiation with 3.82 eV energy. The luminescence light is observed with a peak of about 3 eV energy that corresponds to the band-gap energy of the n-type semiconductive TiO2 oxide. It can therefore be presumed that the luminescence is induced by de-excitation or recombination between electrons in the conduction band and holes in the valence band. The peak wavelength of the luminescence light changes with the formation potential of the oxide film from 409 nm at 1 V to 425 nm at 6 V. The shift of the peak may reflect an amorphous–crystalline transition with increase of potential.