Pulsed-laser deposition of heteroepitaxial corundum-type ZITO: cor-In2−2xZnxSnxO3

Thin films of corundum-type In2−2xZnxSnxO3 (cor-ZITO) were grown on lattice-matched substrates using pulsed laser deposition. The (001) of the corundum-type film grew heteroepitaxial to the (001) of a LiNbO3 substrate with large grains along the in-plane and out-of-plane orientation characterized by glancing incidence X-ray diffraction and four-circle Φ-scans. A film with 34% In (metals basis) exhibited a wide optical gap of 3.9 eV and a modest conductivity of 134 S/cm, which suggests cor-ZITO is a potential low-cost transparent conducting oxide.