THE STRUCTURAL-CHANGES IN THE OXIDE-FILMS OF TIN CAUSED BY OXIDATION

Structural changes in the oxide films of tin induced by the substrate temperature and by oxidation in a stream of a mixture of O2 and Ar gases have been investigated. The samples were deposited by electron beam evaporation of a SnO2 pellet. It has been found from X-ray diffraction measurements that films deposited at temperatures lower than 300°C are amorphous and films deposited at temperatures higher than 300°C are [001] oriented SnO. In addition, the latter films are changed to [101] oriented SnO2 films by oxidation at 600°C for periods longer than 60 min, the change occurring by way of the Sn3O4 state during the early stage of oxidation. The change from SnO to SnO2 via Sn3O4 was confirmed by AES atomic ratio measurement. During this change, the transmittance of the films in the visible region becomes more than 80%. © 1990.