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The surfaces of Si(001) and Si(111) treated in a hydrogen fluoride solution were observed by noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM) under successive irradiation with atomic H generated using a hot W filament as a H2 cracker. The observation and irradiation were repeated in a vacuum chamber equipped with an nc-AFM system and the cracker. We found that etch pits formed on the (001) surface with increasing atomic H irradiation time, but not on the (111) surface. From the nc-AFM observation, we evaluated the average rates of etch-pit enlargement in depth and radius on the (001) surface. The rate in depth was higher than that in radius. The formation of deep etch pits was possibly attributed to the evolution of facets vertical to the (001) surface as the side walls of the pits. The water contact angles on the surfaces were measured, which increased with atomic H irradiation, indicating that the irradiation reinforces the H termination of the surfaces.

Tungsten oxide (WOx) is expected to act as a photocatalytic material under visible light. We have deposited WOx thin films using radiofrequency sputtering and evaluated the photocatalytic activities of the films via degradation of methylene blue solution. The optical absorbance, crystallization, and surface morphology of the WOx thin films were also investigated. The absorption edge of the WOx thin films improved when the substrate temperature was high and the O2 gas flow rate was low. Crystallization proceeded when the substrate temperature was high and additional WOx diffraction peaks were appearing with low O2 gas flow during growth. Furthermore, the grain size of the WOx thin films was smaller when the O2 gas flow was high. The photocatalytic activity was higher when the substrate temperature and O2 gas flow rate were low.

A mixture of hydrophilic silicon dioxide (SiO2) and visible-light-reactive tungsten oxide (WOX) has the potential to improve the photocatalytic activity of conventional titanium dioxide (TiO2). This study deposits mixed WOX–SiO2 thin films on TiO2 surfaces by controlling the composition of WOX:SiO2 using radiofrequency sputtering to improve photocatalytic activity and hydrophilicity. The photocatalytic activity is evaluated via the degradation of a methylene blue solution, and hydrophilicity is measured using the water contact angle. In addition, the effect of annealing is determined at 400 °C after deposition. The optical bandgap decreases as the composition of WOX increases and subsequently anneals. The XRD measurements show that polycrystalline monoclinic WO3 peaks appear after annealing when the composition of the mixed WOX–SiO2 thin films only consists of WOX. In contrast, monoclinic WO3 (200) appears after adding SiO2. Atomic force microscopy images show that the grain size decreases as the SiO2 content increases. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of the mixed WOX–SiO2 thin films improves after annealing. In particular, the mixed WOX–SiO2 thin films that are deposited at a sputter power of WOX:SiO2 = 100:50 W demonstrate a remarkable improvement in photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, the water contact angle of the mixed WOX–SiO2 thin films decreases as the SiO2 content increases and after annealing. This proposed approach can be used for high-performance photocatalytic materials and be widely applied for the fabrication of various semiconducting devices.