Investigation of structural, optical and electrical characteristics of ZnO-SnO2 thin films deposited by filtered vacuum arc deposition system

The objectives of the present research were the deposition of zinc stannate thin films using FVAD system, and the investigation of the effect of deposition conditions and the post-deposition annealing on the properties of deposited films. The chemical concentration, crystal structure, surface morphology, electrical resistivity and optical properties were determined. In addition, the characteristics of the zinc stannate thin films were compared with those of ZnO and SnO2 thin films deposited using the same FVAD system. Chemical and thermal stability of the deposited films were also determined. The ZnO-SnO2 thin films were deposited using zinc cathodes that contained Sn with different atomic percentages by filtered vacuum arc deposition (FVAD) system on UV fused silica (UVFS) and glass substrates. The films were deposited using a range of background oxygen pressure, arc current, and substrate temperature. The oxygen background pressure was in the range 0.53 to 1.06 Pa. The substrate temperature was room temperature, 200 or 400 °C. The arc current of the vacuum arc was in the range 150 to 300 A and the deposition time was 60 s to 240 s. In addition, post-deposition annealing was applied and tested whether it improves the properties of deposited films in air or argon atmospheres. Key Words: Filtered Vacuum Arc, ZnO-SnO2, Optical Characterization, Resistivity, Chemical and Thermal Stability.