Epitaxial growth of transparent tin oxide films on (0 0 0 1) sapphire by pulsed laser deposition

The growth of epitaxial SnO2 on (0 0 0 1) sapphire using pulsed laser deposition is examined. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the films are highly a-axis oriented SnO2 with the rutile structure. Three distinct symmetry-equivalent in-plane epitaxial orientations were observed between the film and substrate. With increasing growth temperature, both the growth rate and surface roughness increase with columnar grain formation. Carrier concentration ranged from 1017 to 1019 cm−3, with mobility of 0.5–3 cm2/V s. The resistivity of the films increases with increasing growth temperature, suggesting a lower density of oxygen vacancy-related defects formed during high temperature deposition.