Open AccessEffect of annealing temperature on the morphology, structure, and optical properties of nanostructured SnO(x) films
Author(s) -
В. А. Тимофеев,
V. I. Mashanov,
A. I. Nikiforov,
И. А. Азаров,
И. Д. Лошкарев,
Ilya V. Korolkov,
Т. А. Гаврилова,
M. Yu. Yesin,
I.A. Chetyrin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
materials research express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.383
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 2053-1591
DOI - 10.1088/2053-1591/ab6122
Subject(s) - materials science , annealing (glass) , refractive index , absorption edge , thin film , orthorhombic crystal system , crystallite , ellipsometry , analytical chemistry (journal) , atmospheric temperature range , diffraction , optics , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , band gap , composite material , chemistry , metallurgy , physics , chromatography , meteorology
Nanostructured SnO(x) films were obtained by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The morphology, structure, and optical properties of obtained films annealed in the temperature range of 200 °C–1000 °C were studied. The reflection high-energy electron diffraction during the film deposition by the MBE method and the x-ray phase analysis showed that the initial films are in the polycrystalline phase. A single orthorhombic SnO 2 phase was obtained for the first time after annealing the SnO(x) film in the air at a temperature of about 500 °C. The sharp change in the optical constants near the temperature of 500 °C was established using ellipsometry. The pronounced absorption edge appears in the short-wave region at temperatures above 500 °C and it disappears at lower temperatures. The film thickness changed non-monotonically during the annealing in the air. At first, it grows from 45 nm to 65 nm (active oxidation to 500 °C), and then (above 600 °C) it begins to decrease. The annealing at temperatures of 500 °C–1000 °C leads to the film compaction, since the film thickness decreases to 50 nm, but the refractive index increases by 10%–15%. Optical constants track the progress of film phase and morphological changes.