Investigation of (110) SnO{sub 2} growth mechanisms on TiO{sub 2} substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Journal Article · Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3176932· OSTI ID:21359340

Tsai, M Y; Speck, J S ^[1]; White, M E ^[2]

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1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106 (United States)
2. Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106 (United States)

We investigated the growth mechanisms of (110) SnO{sub 2} on (110) TiO{sub 2} by varying tin fluxes under a fixed oxygen pressure by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. A growth diagram was constructed that consists of two distinct growth regimes: an increase in growth rates in an oxygen-rich environment and a decrease in growth rates in a tin-rich environment. The excess tin played an important role for the unexpected decreasing growth rate in a tin-rich regime. Without a buildup of the tin adlayer coverage, the accumulation of macroscopic tin droplets on the SnO{sub 2} film surface was confirmed by the spotty high energy electron diffraction pattern and the absence of intensity oscillations. No SnO{sub 2} growth was observed when the impinging tin flux was larger than twice the stoichiometric tin flux, suggesting that all active oxygen atoms were consumed by evaporated tin atoms to form volatile tin suboxide (SnO). The formation of volatile SnO, causing the decreasing growth rate in a tin-rich condition, was monitored by in situ quadrupole mass spectrometry.

• OSTI ID: 21359340
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 106, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3176932; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CRYSTAL GROWTH
DROPLETS
ELECTRON DIFFRACTION
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
OXYGEN
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
STOICHIOMETRY
SUBSTRATES
THIN FILMS
TIN
TIN OXIDES
TITANIUM OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
COHERENT SCATTERING
CRYSTAL GROWTH METHODS
DIFFRACTION
ELEMENTS
EPITAXY
FILMS
MATERIALS
METALS
NONMETALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLES
SCATTERING
SPECTROSCOPY
TIN COMPOUNDS
TITANIUM COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS