Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-019-01031-7 Infuence of mono energetic gamma radiation on structural and electrical properties of TiO 2 thin flm coated on p-type porous silicon P. Pandaram 1  · B. Lawrence 2  · N. Prithivikumaran 2  · N. Jeyakumaran 2 Received: 28 September 2018 / Accepted: 27 February 2019 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Titanium dioxide thin flm was coated on p-type porous silicon by sol–gel spin coating method. The prepared samples were irradiated by the mono-energetic gamma radiation at Auto-irradiation facility with the Cesium-137 for the Gamma dose range from 100 to 1000 mSv. Gamma irradiated samples revealed that the physical changes of titanium oxide/porous silicon layer found to be varying with increasing gamma dose. The irradiated titanium oxide/porous silicon layer were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray difraction, Fourier transform infra-red, Photoluminescence and I–V characteristics studies. The surface morphology of the irradiated titanium oxide/porous silicon layer has shown deformation with increas- ing gamma dose. The X-ray difraction patterns of titanium oxide/porous silicon layer after irradiation revealed changes in crystallite size, dislocation density, strain and phase content. These changes in anatase (004) are linear with gamma dose than the rutile (310) of TiO 2 -PSi. Fourier transform infra-red spectrums of the irradiated samples showed an increase in intensity of vibration modes with the increase of the radiation dose. Photoluminescence peaks are found to be in the range of 330 to 360 nm for all the irradiated samples and the intensity of Photoluminescence peak increased for the irradiated samples with increasing gamma dose. I–V Characteristics revealed that the electrical conductivity of irradiated samples increased linearly with gamma dose. The linear changes in electrical property of titanium oxide/porous silicon under the infuence of mono-energetic gamma photons gives a positive indication that it can be further studied for the development of radiation sensor for applications in nuclear feld. 1 Introduction Gamma radiation has many applications in present century for human development. It is commonly used in research lab, irradiation facility for food preservation, industries, defense and nuclear power plant. The use of gamma radiation will be manifold for human development in future, so it is very important to monitor the gamma radiation to prevent causali- ties of workers and protection of people from harmful con- sequences of exposure to ionizing radiation, for the safety of radiation sources and for protection of the environment [1]. Interaction of ionising radiation with matter ultimately results in transfer of energy and free electrons are generated in the semiconductor. Quantifying the transfer of energy is important for the two most fundamental areas of radiation protection: radiation dosimetry and radiation instrumenta- tion. These interactions produce measurable changes in the materials afected [2]. The basic types of detectors avail- able for routine use have not undergone signifcant changes since its inception. The present radiation sensor based on gas medium as sensing medium is bulky in size and oper- ated at higher voltage [3]. Therefore it is very much essen- tial to develop a low cost, low powered, compact with the capability of real time sensing and alert the user incase of leakage of gamma radiation/excess of radiation in work place. There are many type of radiation sensors made up of diferent materials and size with specifed operating condi- tions. Some are very high purity thin layer (very high cost) of silicon semiconductors and needs special arrangement for cooling to reduce thermal noise [3]. So they are designed for specifc purpose which cannot be used for measuring gamma * P. Pandaram pandaram0204@gmail.com 1 TLD Lab, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu 627 106, India 2 Virudhunagar Hindu Nadars’ Senthikumara Nadar (V.H.N.S.N) College (Autonomous), Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu 626 001, India