Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Committee Chair

Larry E. Halliburton.

Abstract

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) are used to characterize several point defects in titanium dioxide (TiO2) single crystals in the rutile phase. A defect reported in 1961 by P. F. Chester called the "A Center" is assigned to a neutral hydrogen donor. Many researchers believe that the model for this S = 1/2 defect is an interstitial titanium ion (Ti3+) and that Ti3+ interstitials are the most dominant shallow donor in TiO 2. I show that the model for the A center is a neutral hydrogen donor and suggest that the Ti3+ interstitial model is not the most prevalent shallow donor defect in TiO2.;Substitutional Cu2+ defects that are unintentionally introduced to TiO2 (rutile) during growth are characterized and assigned to a Cu2+ ion with an adjacent oxygen vacancy. Exact matrix diagonalization is used here to compute accurate values for the nuclear quadrupole parameter. The reduced intensity of the Cu2+ EPR signal when the sample is illuminated with 442 nm laser light as well as the appearance of photoinduced EPR signals due to singly and doubly ionized oxygen vacancies provide evidence that the Cu2+ defect has an adjacent oxygen vacancy.;Interstitial lithium ions (Li+) adjacent to Ti 3+ ions and substitutional Fe3+ defects (Fe 3+ - Li+) are also characterized. These defects were introduced to the rutile crystal by heating at 450 °C in LiOH powder for times on the order of several hours. Principal values and principal axis directions of the g matrix are calculated for the interstitial Li+ ion adjacent to a Ti3+ ion and photoinduced effects of the Fe 3+ - Li+ defect are examined.

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