Pulsed laser deposition of thin layers from tin acetyl-acetonate and tin oxide targets

The pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technology can be used for the deposition of both organic and inorganic substances. It needs no solvents and permits precise control of deposition parameters (thickness, chemical composition, ability to prepare multilayer structures in situ in one technological step). The contribution presents the results of PLD in the preparation of thin layers from tin acetyl-acetonate (SnAcAc) and tin dioxide targets. The Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) spectra of both as-deposited and thermally activated acetyl-acetonate layers were analyzed with respect to formation of following phases: a) metallic oxides (SnO/sub 2/, In/sub 2/O/sub 3/, b) organic systems with conjugated double bonds, c) carboxylates of the mentioned metals (-COO/sup -/ groups bonded on polymeric chain are typical products of acetyl-acetonate degradation). An excimer KrF laser was employed for the deposition (wavelength 248 nm, energy of up to 190 mJ/pulse, pulse duration is about 15 ns and repetition rate 5 Hz, energy density ranged from 0, 15 to 1, 5 J.cm/sup -2/). The deposition was carried out in nitrogen working atmosphere at a pressure ranging from 1 to 100 Pa. A typical thickness of the deposited layers was about 100 nm. The thermal activation of as-deposited acetyl-acetonate layers was carried out at 430/spl deg/C for 9 hours in an synthetic air atmosphere (80% N/sub 2/, 20% O/sub 2/, C/sub n/H/sub m/<0.1 ppm) containing 5000 ppm of hydrogen.