Titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) nanocrystals are prepared by a hydrolysis process of tetrabutyl titanate. Nanocrystal samples with various sizes of 6.8-27.9 nm are obtained after annealing from 100 to 650 °C. The crystal structures and the average particle sizes are examined using x-ray diffraction. Raman scattering was employed to investigate the evolution of the anatase phase in the nanocrystals during annealing. Phonon confinement and non-stoichiometry effects are responsible for the blueshift and broadening of the lowest-frequency E g Raman mode. The influence of interfacial vibrations on the Raman linewidth is also discussed.

Nanocrystalline SrTiO3 was prepared by a stearic acid sol-gel technique. X-ray measurements showed that the sample obtained is of good quality and the grain sizes range from 26 to 120 nm. One blue photoluminescence (PL) band at around 470 nm was observed at room temperature. Investigation of the dependence of the visible emission band on annealing temperatures and grain sizes showed that the effects of grain size and dielectric confinement play important roles, and that oxygen vacancies may act as the radiative centres responsible for the observed visible emission band. The mechanism for the luminescence is explained within the framework of self-trapped excitons.