High-quality and single-crystal ZnSnO3 thin films: Fabrication and properties

LiNbO3-type ZnSnO3 single crystal thin films are deposited on LiTaO3 (0001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition, and then an annealing process is carried out at a higher temperature. The 700 degrees C-deposited film with a full width at half-maximum of similar to 316 arcsec for the ZnSnO3(0006)-plane X-ray rocking curve has the highest crystal quality, whereas the 800 degrees C-annealed film is partially decomposed. The epitaxial relationship between the highest quality film and the substrate is identified as ZnSnO3(0001) parallel to LiTaO3 (0001) with ZnSnO3 [2 (11) over bar0] parallel to LiTaO3 < 2<(11)over bar>0 >. The hexagonal structure of the ZnSnO3 thin film shows slightly shrunken a-lattice and c-lattice constants. The average transmittance of the sample prepared at 700 degrees C in the visible light range is similar to 79%, and the optical band gap of the film is about 3.90 eV. Due to high transmittance, wide bandgap and high crystal quality, the ZnSnO3 thin film should have wide application potential in optoelectronic devices.

Automated summary

In this study, LiNbO3-type ZnSnO3 single crystal thin films were deposited on a LiTaO3 substrate using pulsed laser deposition, followed by an annealing process. The film deposited at 700 degrees Celsius showed the highest crystal quality, while the film annealed at 800 degrees Celsius exhibited partial decomposition. The ZnSnO3 thin film exhibited a hexagonal structure with slightly shrunken lattice constants, and showed an optical band gap of about 3.90 eV and an average transmittance of approximately 79% in the visible light range. Due to its high transmittance, wide bandgap, and high crystal quality, the ZnSnO3 thin film is expected to have wide application potential in optoelectronic devices.