Structural changes in tin oxide thin film with laser exposure

The effects of laser irradiation on the surface, structure and optical properties of SnO thin films deposited on glass substrates using electron beam evaporation, are investigated. The thin film samples are irradiated using fundamental beam at 1064 nm from Q-switched Nd:YAG pulsed laser with different power densities. Structural morphology of the film is investigated using XRD patterns and AFM image. Both XRD pattern and AFM image show increase in grain size of the film with increasing laser power density. Other optical phenomena, photoluminescence emission, transmission, refractive index determination and optical band gaps calculations are also carried out at various laser power densities. Results from all these investigations reveal expansion in grain size of the crystalline SnO thin film with increasing laser power density.