ZnWO₄ has the monoclinic structure with the space group P2/c and two formula units per unit cell. It is a wide band gap (about 4 eV) compound. ZnWO₄ is considered as an attractive material for different applications due to its optical and chemical properties. Its potential application fields are wide from laser host material to scintillation detector.

ZnWO₄ are usually used in a form of single crystals produced by Czochralski method from a melt. In order to extend application area many efforts are made to obtain and study ZnWO₄ in film form. ZnWO₄ films can be prepared by different methods: sol–gel, spray pyrolysis, RF sputtering of  WO₃ and ZnO mixture. In this work  ZnWO₄  films were obtained by ion-beam sputtering and hydrothermal method.

Films produced by ion beam sputtering were deposited on the glass and KBr substrates in a vacuum chamber equipped with gridless closed drift ion source of the “Radikal” type. Pure Ar and O₂ at pressures 5·10^-4 Torr and 4·10^-4 Torr, respectively, were used for sputtering. The cleaved facet (010) of Chochralski grown ZnWO₄ crystal or ZnO-WO₃ hot-pressed mixture with matched to ZnWO₄ weight ratio were used as a targets for ion beam sputtering. Films of 1-10 mkm thickness were obtained in a time 30-180 min at the substrate temperatures 473-573 K.

The hydrothermal synthesis of ZnWO₄ films was realized with stainless-steel autoclave. For this purpose the amorphous ZnWO₄ precursor was obtained according to the reaction Zn(NO₃)₂+Na₂WO₄ → ZnWO₄ ↓+2NaNO₃  and then filled in a stainless steel autoclave. Clean glass substrate was placed into the autoclave above the suspension surface. The tightly closed autoclave was heated to 473 K and kept at this temperature during 24 h without shaking or stirring. Thereafter autoclave was allowed to naturally cool down to room temperature. This process resulted in formation of a dense thick 10-20 mkm film on the sides of substrate.

The structure and optical properties of films obtained by both methods as well as comparison of methods applied for film production are discussed.

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