Effect of SnO{sub 2} concentration on the tuning of optical and electrical properties of ZnO-SnO{sub 2} composite thin films
- Advanced Technology Development Centre, IIT Kharagpur 721 302 (India)
- Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, IIT Kharagpur 721 302 (India)
ZnO-SnO{sub 2} composite thin films have been deposited at 400 °C on glass substrates using targets of different SnO{sub 2} content (1 to 40 wt. %) by pulsed laser deposition technique. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of the composite films have been studied as a function of SnO{sub 2} content. It is revealed from X-ray diffraction analysis that films are crystalline in nature and the crystallite size decreases from 20–23 nm to 5–7 nm with increase of SnO{sub 2} content. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicates that Sn is predominantly doped into the ZnO lattice upto a SnO{sub 2} content of 15 wt. % in the composite. For higher concentration, a separate SnO{sub 2} phase is segregated in the composite. The band gap energy as well as the electrical conductivity can be tuned by varying the SnO{sub 2} content in the composite. Low temperature electrical conductivity measurements show three dominant conduction mechanisms in the temperature range of 20–300 K. At high temperature range of 200–300 K, thermal activation conduction process is dominant. Nearest neighbor hopping conduction mechanism, which occurs in the shallow impurity bands, is dominant in the temperature range of 90–200 K. In the low temperature range of 20–90 K, the electronic transport occurs through Mott's variable range hopping conduction process.
- OSTI ID:
- 22412851
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
CONCENTRATION RATIO
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ENERGY BEAM DEPOSITION
LASER RADIATION
PULSED IRRADIATION
SUBSTRATES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THIN FILMS
TIN OXIDES
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ZINC OXIDES