Optical and Electrical Properties of Nanocrystalline SnO₂ Thin Films Synthesized by Chemical Bath Deposition Method

Suresh Sagadevan^1*, Jiban Podder²

¹Department of Physics, AMET University, Chennai, India.
²Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.

DOI: 10.4236/snl.2015.54007                

Abstract

The chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique was used for the synthesis of the tin oxide (SnO₂) thin films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was employed to find the crystallite size by using Debye Scherrer’s formula. The surface morphology of SnO₂ films was analyzed by the scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies. The FT-IR spectrum exhibits the strong presence of SnO₂. The optical properties of the SnO₂ thin films were determined using UV-Visible spectrum. The dielectric studies were carried out at different frequencies and at different temperatures for the prepared SnO₂ thin films. Further, electronic properties, such as valence electron plasma energy, average energy gap or Penn gap, Fermi energy and electronic polarizability of the SnO₂ thin films, were determined. The ac conductivity of the SnO₂ thin films increases with increase in temperature and frequency. The activation energy was determined by using dc electrical conductivity measurement. The Hall properties were also calculated.

Keywords

SnO₂, CBD, XRD, SEM, FTIR, and Dielectric Studies

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Lee, S., Kim, Y.W. and Chen, H. (2001) Electrical Properties of Ta-Doped Thin Films Prepared by the Metal-Organic Chemical-Vapor Deposition Method. Applied Physics Letters, 78, 350-352. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1337640
[2]	Watson, J. (1984) The Tin Oxide Gas Sensor and Its Applications. Sensors and Actuators, 5, 29-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0250-6874(84)87004-3
[3]	Minami, T. (1999) Transparent and Conductive Multicomponent Oxide Films Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, 17, 1765. http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.581888
[4]	Liu, D., Wang, Q., Chang, H. and Chen, H. (1995) Variant Structure in Metal-Organic-Chemical-Vapor-Deposition-Derived SnO2 Thin Films on Sapphire (0001). Journal of Materials Research, 10, 1516-1522. http://dx.doi.org/10.1557/JMR.1995.1516
[5]	Kaito, C. and Saito, Y. (1986) Structure and Crystallization Process of a Thin Film Prepared by Vacuum Evaporation of SnO2 Powder. Journal of Crystal Growth, 79, 403-409. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0022-0248(86)90468-9
[6]	Lamelas, F. and Reid, S. (1999) Thin-Film Synthesis of the Orthorhombic Phase of SnO2. Physical Review B, 60, 9347. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.60.9347
[7]	Choudhary, R., Ogale, S., Shinde, S., Kulkarni, V., Venkatesan, T., Harshavardhan, K., Strikovski, M. and Hannoyer, B. (2004) Pulsed-Electron-Beam Deposition of Transparent Conducting SnO2 Films and Study of Their Properties. Applied Physics Letters, 84, 1483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1651326
[8]	Ayouchi, R., Martin, F., Barrado, J., Martos, M., Morales, J. and Sánchez, L. (2000) Use of Amorphous Tin-Oxide Films Obtained by Spray Pyrolysis as Electrodes in Lithium Batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 87, 106-111. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7753(99)00435-8
[9]	Baik, N., Sakai, G., Miura, N. and Yamazoe, N. (2000) Hydrothermally Treated Sol Solution of Tin Oxide for Thin-Film Gas Sensor. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 63, 74-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0925-4005(99)00513-4
[10]	Ghoshtagor, R. (1978) Mechanism of CVD Thin Film SnO2 Formation. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 125, 110-117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1149/1.2131373
[11]	Deshpande, N., Vyas, J. and Sharma, R. (2008) Preparation and Characterization of Nanocrystalline Tin Oxide Thin Films Deposited at Room Temperature. Thin Solid Films, 516, 8587-8593. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2008.06.016
[12]	Tsukuma, K., Akiyama, T. and Imai, H. (1997) Liquid Phase Deposition Film of Tin Oxide. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 210, 48-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3093(96)00583-2
[13]	Supothina, S. and De Guire, M. (2000) Characterization of SnO2 Thin Films Grown from Aqueous Solutions. Thin Solid Films, 371, 1-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0040-6090(00)00989-5
[14]	Ebrahimiasl, S., Yunus, W.Md.Z.W., Kassim, A. and Zainal, Z. (2011) Synthesis of Nanocrystalline SnOx (x = 1–2) Thin Film Using a Chemical Bath Deposition Method with Improved Deposition Time, Temperature and pH. Sensors, 11, 9207-9216. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s111009207
[15]	Suresh, S. and Arunseshan, C. (2014) Dielectric Properties of Cadmium Selenide (CdSe) Nanoparticles Synthesized by Solvothermal Method. Applied Nanoscience, 4, 179-184. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13204-012-0186-5
[16]	Suresh, S. (2014) Studies on the Dielectric Properties of CdS Nanoparticles. Applied Nanoscience, 4, 325-329. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13204-013-0209-x
[17]	Sagadevan, S. and Shanmuga Sundaram, A. (2014) Dielectric Properties of Lead Sulphide Thin films for Solar Cell Applications. Chalcogenide Letters, 11, 159-165.
[18]	Thirumavalavan, S., Mani, K. and Sagadevan, S. (2015) Structural, Surface Morphology, Optical And Electrical Investigation of CdSe Thin Films. Chalcogenide Letters, 12, 237-246.
[19]	Thirumavalavan, S., Mani, K. and Sagadevan, S. (2015) Investigation on Structural, Optical, Morphological and Electrical Properties of Lead Sulphide (PbS) Thin Films. Journal of Ovonic Research, 11, 123-130.