Zinc telluride thin films with different thicknesses were grown onto glass substrates by the rf magnetron sputtering technique, using time as a variable growth parameter. All other deposition process parameters were kept constant. The deposited thin films with thickness from 75 to 460 nm were characterized using X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry, and UV-Vis spectroscopy, to evaluate their structures, surface morphology, topology, and optical properties. It was found out that the deposition time increase leads to a larger growth rate. This determines significant changes on the ZnTe thin film structures and their surface morphology. Characteristic surface metrology parameter values varied, and the surface texture evolved with the thickness increase. Optical bandgap energy values slightly decreased as the thickness increased, while the mean grains radius remained almost constant at ~9 nm, and the surface to volume ratio of the films decreased by two orders of magnitude. This study is the first (to our knowledge) that thoroughly considered the correlation of film thickness with ZnTe structuring and surface morphology characteristic parameters. It adds value to the existing knowledge regarding ZnTe thin film fabrication, for various applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices, including photovoltaics.

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The interest in ultrathin silver (Ag) films has increased due to their high surface plasmon resonance for coatings of only a few nm. Low roughness ultrathin films of 1 to 9 nm have been deposited on different substrates, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and optical glass, using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. Films show good surface plasmon resonance up to 7 nm thickness, as revealed by the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectra. The roughness of the films, investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), is small, and one can conclude that depositions are smooth and homogeneous. The bandgap values decrease with film thickness. The refractive index of the films, calculated from ellipsometry measurements, leads to values of under 1 visible domain, with minima in the wavelength range of 400–600 nm. The results are useful for obtaining lower roughness ultrathin Ag films with good surface plasmon resonance for photonic applications.

The cubic structure 8YSZ (8%Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia) thin films deposited by PLD(Pulsed Laser Deposition) on substrates Si (100) and Pt/Si (111) by identical control parameters have potential applications as electrolytes for planar micro electrochemical devices like Lambda oxygen sensors and IT-�SOFC. It appearance differences in polycrystalline structural and optical characterization by XRD (X-ray Diffraction), SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) and V- VASE (Variable Angle Spectroscopic Ellipsometry. The differences are relating on crystalline dimensions, lattice parameters; surface roughness measured by V- VASE and AFM are presented synthetic to evidence the differences generated by substrates.