Pulsed laser deposition of tin oxide thin films for field emission studies

A comparative study of Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) based Tin Oxide (SnO2) thin films deposited at various substrate deposition temperature (Ts) has been performed. Surface morphology of the films was studied by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and surface composition of the films by X-ray PhotoelectronSpectroscopy (XPS) technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique has been used to investigate crystalline nature of the deposited films. Field Emission (FE) properties of the SnO2 films were measured and a significantly low turn on field (2.1 V/μm) (field necessary to draw an emission current density of 10 μA/cm2) for films deposited at high substrate temperature (700 °C) was observed. Field enhancement factor estimated from FE studies was found to strongly depend on the surface morphology of the films. Overall good field emission current stability was observed for all SnO2 films. Dependence of FE properties on surface morphology, surface composition and deposition environment has been observed and analyzed systematically. Significantly low turn on field with high emission current density and field enhancement factor exhibited by films deposited when substrate was maintained at 700 °C has been mainly correlated to surface morphology and surface composition.