Optoelectronic properties of SnO ₂ thin films sprayed at different deposition times

Abstract

This article presents the elaboration of tin oxide (SnO 2 ) thin films on glass substrates by using a home-made spray pyrolysis system. Effects of film thickness on the structural, optical, and electrical film properties are investigated. The films are characterized by several techniques such as x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), ultravioletvisible (UV-Vis) transmission, and four-probe point measurements, and the results suggest that the prepared films are uniform and well adherent to the substrates. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show that SnO 2 film is of polycrystal with cassiterite tetragonal crystal structure and a preferential orientation along the (110) plane. The calculated grain sizes are in a range from 32.93 nm to 56.88 nm. Optical transmittance spectra of the films show that their high transparency average transmittances are greater than 65% in the visible region. The optical gaps of SnO 2 thin films are found to be in a range of 3.64 eV-3.94 eV. Figures of merit for SnO 2 thin films reveal that their maximum value is about 1.15 × 10 −4 Ω −1 at λ = 550 nm. Moreover, the measured electrical resistivity at room temperature is on the order of 10 −2 Ω•cm.

Effect of ionic size compensation by Ag+ incorporation in homogeneous Fe-substituted ZnO: studies on structural, mechanical, optical, and magnetic properties

“…Band tail energy is weakly temperature dependent due to localized states associated with disorder in crystalline materials and is denoted by Urbach energy, E u. 57–59 E u can be estimated as: α = α o exp( hν / E u ) …”

Photocatalytic activity of Al/Ni-doped TiO2 films synthesized by sol-gel method: Effect of sunlight photocatalysis on the catalysts properties

“…Where t is the films thickness (cm), A is the surface area of the films (cm 2 ), M is the mass of the films (g), and g is the density of the film material (g.cm -3 ) [39]. Table 1 shows that films thickness values confirm the 3D film growth as shown in Fig.…”

“…The band gaps of the films slightly decreased with doping TiO 2 thin films by Ni and Al ions owing to the change in crystallographic phase from anatase to Ti 4 O 7 and rutile, respectively. In other hand, both degree of crystallinity [19], crystal size [17] and film thickness [39] are the of importance parameters controlling the film band gap value. Table 1 shows that the indirect band gap widens with increasing thickness [41].…”

A Novel Approach to Augment the Opto-Electronic Properties of Stannic Oxide (SnO2) Thin Films by Vanadium Doping

“…These are the remarkable characteristics of SnO2 [18]. For optoelectronic devices and solar cell applications, SnO2 thin films is a very suitable candidate as it is having a good electrical and optical properties [19].…”