On the selective deposition of tin and tin oxide on various glasses using a high power diode laser

Abstract

The deposition of SnO 2 using a 120 W high power diode laser (HPDL) on both fused silica and sodalime-silica glass has been successfully demonstrated. Deposition on both glass substrates was carried out with laser power densities of 650-1600 W cm -2 and at rates of 420-1550 mm min -1 . The thickness of the deposited layers was typically around 250 µm. The maximum theoretical coverage rate that it may be possible to achieve using the HPDL was calculated as being 3.72 m 2 h -1 . Owing to the wettability characteristics of Sn, it proved impossible to deposit the metal on either glass substrate.Evidence of solidified microstructures was observed, with the microstructures differing considerably across the same deposited track. These differences were attributed to variations in the solidification rate, R, and the thermal gradient, G. Adhesion of the SnO 2 with the soda-lime-silica glass was found to be due to mechanical bonding. The adhesion of the SnO 2 with the fused silica was seen to the result of a chemical bond arising from an interface region between the SnO 2 and the fused silica glass substrate. This interface region was found to be comprised of mainly Si and rich with Sn 3 O 4 .

Atomic Layer Deposition of Epitaxial and Polycrystalline SnO2 Films from the SnI4/O2 Precursor Combination

“…Thin films of the material are usually grown by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering, [2,13] although some other techniques, each having its own strong points, have also come into use. These techniques include mid-frequency dual magnetron sputtering, [11] bipolar pulsed magnetron sputtering, [14] direct current magnetron sputtering, [15] dual ion beam sputtering, [16] electron beam evaporation, [10] dual ion beam-assisted electron beam evaporation, [17] pulsed laser deposition, [18] atmospheric environment laser deposition, [19] rheotaxial growth and thermal oxidation, [20] spray pyrolysis, [6] ultrasonic spray pyrolysis, [5] sol-gel dip coating, [21] deposition from aqueous solutions, [22] and a variety of versions of CVD, viz., its atmospheric-pressure, [23] low-pressure, [24] ion beam-induced, [25] plasma-enhanced, [26] laser-induced, [27] photo-induced, [28] and atomic layer-controlled [29] variants. Recently, there has been considerable interest in epitaxial SnO 2 thin films.…”

Differentiation of tin oxides using electron energy-loss spectroscopy

“…2,3 These uses can require bulk or nanostructured materials 4,5 or thin films. 6,7 Many synthesis routes involve change in the oxidation state of tin, from Sn(0) to Sn (II) or Sn(II) to Sn(IV), or else the presence of more than one phase, often hard to characterize by standard techniques because of the small domain size. Another difficulty for processes that involve change in the oxidation state from 2+ to 4+ is that SnO undergoes thermal decomposition involving a metastable phase, usually called the intermediate oxide (IO), which requires high temperatures to be completely converted to SnO 2 .…”