G.A. Hirata, J. McKittrick, L.E. Shea, O.A. Lopez and M. Avalos-Borja, "Luminescent Oxide Thin Films Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition," Journal of the Society for Information Display, 4 [4] 347-349 (1996).

Transparent photoluminescent ZnGa₂O₄ and Tb-doped Y₃Al₅O₁₂ (YAG:Tb) thin films were deposited on sapphire substrates at 300°C by laser ablation. The targets were made from ZnGa₂O₄ and YAG:Tb powders prepared with a novel ceramic processing technique (combustion synthesis). The deposition of the films was performed in ultrahigh vacuum with a KrF excimer laser (wavelength = 248 nm) with a fluence of 3.6 J/cm² and a repetition rate of 30 Hz. X-ray diffraction and Auger measurements taken on as-deposited films indicated that the films were amorphous and showed a reduction in oxygen when compared to the bulk targets, and were not photoluminescent. Post- annealing treatments in air for at least 1 hour in the range 800-1200°C induced crystallinity and recovered blue photoluminescence on ZnGa₂O₄ and green photoluminescence on YAG:Tb thin films, respectively.