DEPOSITION, EVALUATION AND APPLICATION OF SPUTTERED ZINC-OXIDE THIN-FILMS

We discuss the production of oriented zinc oxide piezoelectric thin fi lms grown by RF magnetron sputtering, and film evaluation techniques. In particular, we present a simple interferometric method for in situ and simultaneous measurement of film thickness and optical losses. We also show that due to plasma heating, the increase in substrate temper ature at the beginning of the film growth leads to a varying film stru cture, causing a discrepancy between the expected and the observed res onant frequency of the films. We conclude this paper by presenting exp erimental results of acousto-optic interaction.