Titania-based thin films are widely investigated in several areas of material science because of their appealing functional properties. In addition to the more traditional studies in the field of the photocatalysis, a renewed attention has been recently devoted to the integration of titania thin films in gas sensing devices, due to their good chemical stability at high temperature as well as in harsh environments. The conductivity of titanium dioxide can be improved by the addition of dopants, that offer the possibility to tune the electrical response of the sensor devices.
The deposition process may dramatically change the structure and microstructure of the film and, as a consequence, its functional properties. Radio-Frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering is one of the most suitable techniques for the industrial scaling-up of the thin films deposition process. In order to vary the concentration of vanadium in the film, a deposition from a target with a variable number of metal insets has been performed.
The present work is focussed on the structural investigation of different series of vanadia -titania thin films, prepared by sputtering. Bidimensional micro X-Ray Diffraction (XRD²) and Glancing Angle X-Ray Diffraction (GIXRD) techniques have been used for a complete analysis of the structure and the microstructure. Moreover, microInfraRed and microRaman measurements allowed us to obtain a deep comprehension about the role played by the modifications of the local structure as a function both of the dopant content and of the thermal post-deposition treatments. The electrical response of these materials, as a function of the surrounding atmosphere, are discussed in correlation with the structural/microstructural analysis.

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