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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Thin films have been deposited by rf magnetron sputtering from a stoichiometric Ta2Zn3O8 ceramic target (3ZnO + 1Ta2O5). Negative ion re-sputtering effects have been observed in the stoichiometric Ta2Zn3O8 target and have been attributed to O ion formation from primarily Ta-O bonds. Zinc deficient thin films were deposited as a result of the preferential re- sputtering of Zn versus Ta. The negative ion re-sputtering effects are exacerbated at higher powers and lower pressure. This observation is correlated to the oxygen ion transport through the dark space and the plasma, which ultimately controls the energy distribution of the oxygen particles that arrive at the substrate. To circumvent the negative ion re-sputtering, a mosaic ZnO-Ta target was sputtered, which resulted in stoichiometric and luminescent thin films.