Characterization of ZnO–SnO2 nanocomposite thin films deposited by pulsed laser ablation and their field effect electronic properties

Abstract ZnO–SnO 2 nanocomposite thin films were produced using pulsed laser ablation of pie-shaped ZnO–SnO 2 oxides target, and their field effect electronic transport properties investigated as a function of annealing temperature. The films have a nanocomposite structure consisting of ZnO and SnO 2 nanoparticles. The amorphous ZnO–SnO 2 nanocomposite thin films, as oxide semiconductors, exhibited excellent electronic transport properties with saturation mobility of around 16.9 cm 2 /V s, turn-on voltage of ~−1 V, subthreshold swing of 0.22 V/decade, and high drain current on-to-off ratio of over 10 10 , enough to operate for next-generation microelectronic devices. These results are presumed due to the unique electronic structure of amorphous nanocomposite coupled with two heavy-metal Zn and Sn cations having spherically symmetric s-orbitals.