Photoacoustic and optical properties of zinc-stannate thin films

Abstract

Thin films of single-phase zinc-stannate (Zn2SnO4) were grown by rf magnetron sputtering onto glass substrates. Transmission in the visible range was measured allowing determination of the energy gap and thickness of analyzed thin film samples using interference fringes. The photoacoustic phase and amplitude spectra of all samples were measured as a function of the laser beam modulating frequency using a transmission detection configuration. Fitting of experimental data enabled calculation of thermal diffusivity, the coefficient of minority carrier diffusion, their mobility and lifetime.