Polycrystalline ZnSnN(2) thin films were successfully prepared by DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature. Both the as-deposited and annealed films showed n-type conduction, with electron concentration varying between 1.6×10(18) and 2.3×10(17)  cm(-3) and the maximum mobility of 3.98  cm(2)  V(-1) s(-1). The basic optical parameters such as the refraction index, extinction coefficient, and absorption coefficient were precisely determined through the spectroscopic ellipsometry measurement and analysis. The optical bandgap of the ZnSnN(2)films was calculated to around 1.9 eV, with the absorption coefficient greater than 10(4)  cm(-1) at wavelengths less than 845 nm. The easy-fabricated ZnSnN(2) possesses a sound absorption coefficient ranging from the ultraviolet through visible light and into the near-infrared, comparable to some typical photovoltaic materials such as GaAs, CdTe, and InP.

In this study, (001) and (101)-orientated polycrystalline SnO films were respectively fabricated. The preferred orientation conversion was observed by modifying the stoichiometry of the SnO films. It was revealed that the O-rich and Sn-rich SnO films favor (001) and (101) grain orientations, respectively. Moreover, based on the Raman selection rule and our experimental results, the 110 cm À1 Raman peak is assigned to the lowfrequency E g mode of SnO. The Raman intensity ratio between the 110 cm À1 and 210 cm À1 peak of SnO increases with the relative texture coefficient of the (101) grain orientation but decreases with that of the (001) one, demonstrating that the Raman characteristic information could be used as fingerprint recognition to mutually predict the crystallographic texture of SnO films.