Microstructural, optical and electrical investigations of Sb-SnO{sub 2} thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis

Journal Article · Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Materials Research Bulletin

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MATERRESBULL.2013.05.001· OSTI ID:22341775

Gupta, Sushant ^[1]; Dwivedi, Prabhat K. ^[2]; Das, B. ^[3]

---

1. Department of Applied Physics, School for Physical Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Central University, Lucknow 226025, U.P. (India)
2. DST Unit on Nanosciences, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, U.P. (India)
3. Department of Physics, University of Lucknow, Lucknow 226007, U.P. (India)

Highlights: • We controlled structural, morphological, electrical, optical and physical (such as band gap energy) properties by altering the Sb doping concentration. • Variation in bandgap with Sb concentration is in agreement with the Burstein–Moss hypothesis and this hypothesis was further confirmed by plotting E{sub g} vs n{sup 2/3}. • The resistivity and mobility are in the range of 1.512–6.624 × 10{sup −3} Ω cm and 9.75–22.96 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1}. The e-density lies between 4.11 × 10{sup 19} and 4.24 × 10{sup 20} cm{sup −3}. • We observed that Sb substitution in SnO{sub 2} lattice decreases the crystallite size and the possible reason for this is the creation of Sb monolayer on the surface of SnO{sub 2} crystallite. - Abstract: The structural, optical and electrical properties of spray deposited antimony (Sb) doped tin oxide (SnO{sub 2}) thin films, prepared from SnCl{sub 4} precursor, have been studied as a function of antimony doping concentration. The doping concentration was varied from 0 to 1.5 wt.% of Sb. The analysis of X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the as deposited doped and undoped tin oxide thin films are pure crystalline tetragonal rutile phase of tin oxide which belongs to the space group P4{sub 2}/mnm (number 136). The surface morphological examination with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) revealed the fact that the grains are closely packed and pores/voids between the grains are very few. The resistivity (ρ) and mobility (μ) are in the range of 1.512 × 10{sup −3}–6.624 × 10{sup −3} Ω cm and 9.75–22.96 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1}. The electron density lies between 4.11 × 10{sup 19} and 4.24 × 10{sup 20} cm{sup −3}. A thorough electrical investigation reveals that the film's resistivity depends on carrier concentration. It is found that ionized impurity scattering is the dominant mechanism, which limits the mobility of the carriers. The transmittance spectra for as-deposited films were recorded in the wavelength range of 200–1000 nm. The transmittance of the films was observed to increase from 57% to 68% (at 800 nm) on initial addition of Sb (up to [Sb]/[Sn] = 0.5 wt.%) and then it is decreased for higher level of antimony doping ([Sb]/[Sn] >0.5 wt.%)

• OSTI ID: 22341775
• Journal Information: Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 48, Issue 9; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2013 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0025-5408
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
ABUNDANCE
ANTIMONY
DEPOSITS
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
FIELD EMISSION
MICROSTRUCTURE
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PYROLYSIS
RUTILE
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
SPACE GROUPS
SPECTRA
SYNTHESIS
TETRAGONAL LATTICES
THIN FILMS
TIN CHLORIDES
TIN OXIDES
WAVELENGTHS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION