COMPARISON OF PROPERTIES OF TIN OXIDE-FILMS DEPOSITED BY REACTIVE-PARTIALLY IONIZED BEAM, ION-ASSISTED, AND HYBRID ION-BEAM METHODS

A hybrid ion beam (HIB) technique that consists of a reactive-partiall y ionized beam deposition (R-PIBD) and a gas ion gun was adopted to de posit tin oxide thin films on Si(100) substrate under various depositi on conditions. Tin oxide films grown by R-PlBD showed nonstoichiometri c composition and the main phases of the films consisted of Sn metal a nd SnO. Surface roughness of the films deposited by R-PIBD were change d from 4.7 to 27.4 nm with increasing acceleration voltage from 0 to 4 kV. The films assisted by oxygen ion show the chemical state of Sn4which is similar to that of a standard SnO2 powder. Also, the films re present flat surface roughness much less than the case of R-PIBD. A fi lm with a highly preferred orientation along the SnO2 (200)plane and w ith grain size 80.5 nm was successfully grown by IAD. The SnOx films c omposed of grains with nanosize are discussed in terms of chemical sta te, composition ratio, crystallinity, and surface roughness. (C) 1997 Acta Metallurgica Inc.