Structural Characterization of Zinc Stannate Thin Films

Polycrystalline thin films of Zn ₂SnO ₄ were deposited by rf magnetron sputtering onto glass substrates. Films were characterized by θ-2θ x-ray diffraction and by ¹¹⁹Sn conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy. The films were randomly oriented in a cubic spinel structure. Comparison of x-ray diffraction peak intensities with structure-factor-calculated peak intensities confirmed that the films were in an inverse spinel configuration. Mössbauer studies detected two distinct Sn ⁴⁺ octahedral sites. These distinct sites may be induced by distortions in the lattice associated with equally distinct Zn ²⁺ octahedral sites. A model is suggested to explain that the relatively low electron mobility of Zn ₂SnO ₄ may be associated with disorder on the cation octahedral sites. This may disrupt transport between edge-sharing d ¹⁰s ⁰ electronically configured cations.