Effect of annealing treatments on the microstructure of (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 thin films sputtered on silicon

This paper describes physical properties of Zirconium Tin Titanium Oxide doped 1 wt.% ZnO thin films on n-type Si substrate were deposited by rf magnetron sputtering at a fix rf power of 300 W, a deposition pressure of 5 mTorr, a substrate temperature of 450 °C and a argon-oxygen (Ar/O2) of 100/0. Particular attention will be paid to the effects of an annealing treatment in air ambient on the physical properties. The films were annealed at various temperatures from 500 °C to 700 °C and also changed annealing times from 2 h to 6 h. The powder target composition of (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 was synthesized in the experiment. The annealed films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface morphologies of annealed film were examined by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.