Facile strategy and mechanism for orthorhombic SnO2 thin films

Orthorhombic phase SnO2 is a material with unknown optical, electrical, and gas-sensing properties. It was found previously only at high pressures and temperatures. A facile strategy for the synthesis of orthorhombic SnO2 is of fundamental importance. Using pulsed-laser deposition, the authors report a kind of experimental realization of a pure orthorhombic SnO2 thin film under low pressure and temperature that are much lower than those of traditional methods. The optical properties of an orthorhombic SnO2 thin film were measured by spectrophotometric transmittance. The oxygen exchange reaction mechanism at the grain interfaces was proposed to explain the formation and optical properties of this orthorhombic phase. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.