Comments on “Synthesis and structural characterization of rutile SnO2 nanocrystals” by Z. Chen, J.K.L. Lai, C.H. Shek, and H. Chen [J. Mater. Res. 18, 1289 (2003)]

The nanostructure, stoichiometry and sensing performance of SnO2 films grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) have been shown to be highly sensitive to the deposition conditions. In particular, PLD deposition under vacuum is known to produce films that are composed of both a polycrystalline SnO2 phase and an amorphous SnO phase, for deposition temperatures in the 20–600 °C range. The presence of such an amorphous SnO phase in the films greatly limits their practical use as gas-sensing devices.