The influence of working atmosphere on Y3(Al,Ga)5O12:Tb thin films grown with the PLD technique

Y-3(Al,Ga)(5)O-12:Tb thin films were gown on Si (100) substrates using the pulsed laser deposition technique. The influence of working atmosphere (base pressure, O-2, Ar and N-2) on morphology and structure of the thin films were investigated by Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) was employed to analyze the surface chemical composition of the films and the Auger data confirmed the presence of all major elements, namely Yttrium (Y), Aluminum (Al), Gallium (Ga) and Oxygen (O) present in the Y-3(Al,Ga)(5)O-12:Tb phosphor. The brightest emission was observed from the film which was deposited in the O-2 atmosphere, indicating that oxygen is the best working atmosphere for growing the Y-3(Al,Ga)(5)O-12:Tb thin films AES also shows the differences in atomic concentration of the different films in comparison with that of the phosphor powder. The concentration of the elements of the O-2 atmosphere thin film was more similar to the elemental concentration of the powder itself.