Deposition of scintillating layers of bismuth germanate (BGO) films for X-ray detector applications

Bi/sub 4/Ge/sub 3/O/sub 12/ films were deposited by pulsed laser ablation on glass and SiO/sub 2//Si substrates. The crystal structures of the films depend on the deposition temperature. XRD patterns indicate that the films deposited at substrate temperature less than 400/spl deg/C are amorphous. The as deposited amorphous films can be crystallized by post rapid thermal annealing (RTA) in the temperature window from 750/spl deg/C to 800/spl deg/C for 2 minutes in a oxygen ambient environment. RBS measurements confirm that the films have the same chemical composition as that of the target. The surface morphology of the films were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM).