Modeling the optical properties of tin oxide thin films

Searching the many papers reporting on the optical characteristics of tin oxide thin films, an obvious question arises: what is the origin of the very large differences in the reported optical and electrical properties of these films? The objective of the present work is to resolve this question by applying a modeling approach, simulating the refractive index of SnO, SnO₂, SnO + SnO₂, and porous tin oxide films in the visible range of the spectrum under various structure and composition conditions. Using the semi-empirical model of Wemple and DiDomenico for the dielectric function below the interband absorption edge of ionic and covalent solids, and the effective-medium theory of Bruggeman, the refractive indices of SnO, SnO₂, several mixtures of SnO and SnO₂ and various porous tin oxide films were calculated. The resulting data are compared with some published data to suggest the compositional and structural characteristics of the reported oxides. The correlation between the optical properties of the studied thin films and film composition is also indicated. It is proposed that the large spread in reported optical data is possibly a spread in the composition of the samples.     

Influence of the plasma expansion dynamics on the structural properties of pulsed laser ablation deposited tin oxide thin films

Tin oxide thin films were deposited by pulsed laser ablation at different oxygen partial pressures and substrate temperatures. Information on the structural and morphological properties of the deposited thin films has been obtained by means of X-ray photoelectron, Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopies and scanning electron microscopy. The expansion of the laser generated plasma has been studied by means of time resolved fast photography. Different expansion regimes were observed: in vacuum the plasma follows a free expansion one while the raise of the background oxygen pressure leads to the development of a shock wave. It was found that only at 13.3 Pa of oxygen gas, in the presence of a shock wave, the deposition of stoichiometric films, at relatively low substrates temperature, is attainable. The correlation between the observed dynamics of the plasma expansion and the structural properties of the deposited films is presented and discussed.     

Semiconducting tin oxide nanowires and thin films for Chemical Warfare Agents detection

In this work we report the preparation and structural characterization of tin oxide nanowires as functional materials for the development of chemical sensors. Aspects of material preparation relevant for gas sensing applications, such as the control of the wire diameter, are emphasized. The functional characterization is focused on the detection of Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs) simulants, with particular regard to poisoning effects induced by dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP), a simulant for Sarin nerve agent. Tin oxide thin films, prepared by means of rheotaxial growth and thermal oxidation (RGTO) technique, are used as reference to better compare the performance of nanowires with thin films traditionally used in gas sensing field.     

Annealing behaviour of electron-beam deposited tin dioxide films

The sheet resistivity of tin dioxide films deposited by electron-beam evaporation has been studied during annealing, both as a function of time and temperature. The annealing behaviour of SnO₂ films under the above two different conditions is consistent. A qualitative interpretation has been given for the decrease and the minimum observed in the resistivity. The increase in resistivity has been confirmed by scanning-electron micrographs. The films were also characterized by x-ray diffractometry.     

Photovoltaic structures using chemically deposited tin sulfide thin films

Chemically deposited thin films of tin sulfide forms in two crystalline structures depending on the bath compositions used: orthorhombic, SnS(OR), and zinc-blende, SnS(ZB). These films posses p-type electrical conductivity and have band gaps of 1.2 and 1.7 eV, respectively. The photovoltaic structure: SnO₂:F/CdS/SnS(ZB)/SnS(OR) with evaporated Ag-electrode reported here shows an open circuit voltage (V_OC) of 370 mV, a short circuit current density (J_SC) of 1.23 mA/cm², fill factor of 0.44 and conversion efficiency of 0.2% under 1 kW/m² illumination intensity. We present an evaluation for improvement in the light generated current density when the two types of SnS absorber films are used. Different evaporated electrode materials were tested, from which Ag-electrode was chosen for this work. The results given above were obtained with SnS(ZB) film of 0.1 µm and SnS(OR) film of 0.5 µm in thickness.     

Characterization of iridium oxide thin films deposited by pulsed-direct-current reactive sputtering

Thin films of iridium oxide were deposited on silicon and borosilicate glass substrates by pulsed-direct-current (pulsed-DC) reactive sputtering of iridium metal in an oxygen-containing atmosphere. Optimum deposition conditions were identified in terms of plasma pulsing conditions, oxygen partial pressures, and substrate temperature. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. According to the results, it was possible to obtain films that are near-stoichiometric, smooth and uniform in texture. The films deposited without substrate heating were amorphous, and those deposited at substrate temperatures above 300 °C were found to have a homogeneous polycrystalline structure. The results also showed that pulsed-DC sputtered iridium oxide films were smoother and had lower micro-inclusions density than DC-sputtered films obtained under otherwise similar deposition conditions. This improvement in the film quality is at the expense of a tolerable decrease in the deposition rate.     

Electrical conduction in 10-20 nm thick polycrystalline tin oxide thin films deposited by chemical vapor deposition

Electrical properties were studied for chemical vapor deposited fluorine doped tin oxide films that were less than 20 nm thick. The electrical properties of the coatings were found to be affected by the type of additive alcohol used in the deposition process. Conductivity was superior for ethanol or isopropyl alcohol (IPA) compared to methanol. Hall effect measurements showed that mobility and carrier concentration were best for IPA, less for ethanol, and least for methanol. Influence of carrier scattering factors to electrical properties was speculated. Potential barrier for carrier scattering at grain boundaries was estimated to be lower in an IPA-added film compared to methanol-added films. Experimental results suggested electrical properties were influenced by size and density of tin oxide micro-grains. It was concluded that interconnections between the micro-grains increased mobility and carrier concentration of very thin films.     

Growth and characterization of indium tin oxide thin films deposited on PET substrates

Transparent and conductive indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited onto polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by d.c. magnetron sputtering as the front and back electrical contact for applications in flexible displays and optoelectronic devices. In addition, ITO powder was used for sputter target in order to reduce the cost and time of the film formation processes. As the sputtering power and pressure increased, the electrical conductivity of ITO films decreased. The films were increasingly dark gray colored as the sputtering power increased, resulting in the loss of transmittance of the films. When the pressure during deposition was higher, however, the optical transmittance improved at visible region of light. ITO films deposited onto PET have shown similar optical transmittance and electrical resistivity, in comparison with films onto glass substrate. High quality films with resistivity as low as 2.5 × 10^− 3 Ω cm and transmittance over 80% have been obtained on to PET substrate by suitably controlling the deposition parameters.     

Nitrogen doped p-type SnO thin films deposited via sputtering

p-Type SnO thin films were fabricated via reactive RF magnetron sputtering on borosilicate substrates with an Sn target and Ar/O₂/N₂ gas mixture. The undoped SnO thin film consisted of a polycrystalline SnO phase with a preferred (1 0 1) orientation; however, with nitrogen doping, the preferred orientation was suppressed and the grain size decreased. The electrical conductivity of the undoped SnO thin films demonstrated a relatively low p-type conductivity of 0.05 Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ and it was lowered slightly with nitrogen doping to 0.039 Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹. The results of the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggested that the nitrogen doping created donor defects in the SnO thin films causing lower electrical conductivity. Lastly, both the undoped and doped SnO thin films had poor optical transmittance in the visible range.     

Effect of doping and substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of reactive pulsed laser ablated tin oxide doped tantalum oxide thin films

5% SnO₂ doped tantalum oxide (Ta₂O₅) films are deposited on quartz substrates at different substrate temperatures of 300 K, 773 K, 873 K and 973 K using pulsed laser deposition in an oxygen ambient of 0.002 mbar. Undoped Ta₂O₅ films are also deposited on quartz substrates kept at substrate temperature 973 K under the same oxygen ambient using PLD. The films are characterized using GIXRD, AFM, FTIR, micro-Raman and UV-visible spectroscopy. Undoped films show an amorphous nature even at a substrate temperature of 973 K, whereas, SnO₂ doped films show crystalline nature even for deposition at 300 K. As far as our knowledge goes, this is the first report of crystalline Ta₂O₅ films deposited at room temperature. The average size of the crystallites calculated using the Debye-Scherrer formula, shows that the size of the crystallite decreases with increase in substrate temperature. FTIR and micro-Raman spectroscopic analysis reveals the presence of Ta-O-Ta, O-Ta and O-Ta-O vibrational bands in the films. Raman analysis indicates that the addition of SnO₂ suppresses the bond formation and changes the magnitude of bonds in Ta₂O₅. AFM patterns reveal the formation of Ta₂O₅ nanorods of diameter about 100 nm for the doped film deposited at 973 K. Optical transmittance of the films is found to be sensitive to substrate temperature as well as to the presence of SnO₂. A blue shift in the band-gap of the doped films is observed. The decrease of band-gap with decrease of particle size observed for SnO₂ doped films can be due to a band-bending effect. The transmittance of the films is found to depend on SnO₂ doping and substrate temperature.     

Texture control of fluorine-doped tin oxide thin film

The texture control of transparent oxide thin film, the crystalline orientation, is very important, because it is related to the electrical resistivity and the optical transparency. It is known that the crystal orientation could be controlled by varying precursor source, gas flow rate, and deposition temperature. We deposited fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) thin film on aluminoborosilicate glass by spraying water-based solution and ethyl alcohol-added solution. We showed in this research that (200) and (301) preferential orientation of FTO thin film can be controlled by the addition of ethyl alcohol to FTO coating solution. (200) oriented FTO thin film deposited from ethyl alcohol-added solution comprises of pyramidal crystallites with {111} polar faces, which contain {101} contact twin planes. {101} contact twin planes forms salient reentrant angle which provides nucleating sites and makes crystallites grow abnormally. (301) orientation is thought through Periodic Bond Chains of tin hydroxide which forms prismatic long crystallites. Prismatic crystallites are comprised of {110} crystal faces which contain {101} repeated contact twin. It is very helpful to control (200) or (301) oriented crystal formation in transparent conducting oxide film, because the texture affects the electrical and optical properties of transparent conducting oxide film. We suggest that ethyl alcohol addition plays a role to form crystallites with {111} polar faces corresponding to (200) preferential orientation. The crystal morphologies are changed by doping elements, precursor sources, deposition conditions like flow rate and temperatures, and solvents.     

Elaboration of heterojunction solar cells by the deposit of tin oxide thin films on silicon by APCVD

We present in this paper the experimental results concerning the deposition of tin oxide SnO₂ on silicon substrate by the technique of Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapour Deposition (APCVD). The obtained Si-SnO₂ heterostructure is used for photovoltaic application. The properties of tin oxide thin films deposited by APCVD technique depends on three parameters which are the deposition temperature, the deposition time and the oxygen pressure. We have obtained the optimal value of each parameter by the measurement of the open-circuit voltage of the obtained Si-SnO₂ heterostructure. So, at the temperature of 490 °C during 12 min of deposition time under oxygen pressure of 1 bar we have obtained tin oxide thin layers exhibiting the best optoelectronic and morphology characteristics. These thin films are polycrystalline and present a resistivity of 1.3 · 10^− 3 Ω cm and a refractive index of 1.72. The Si-SnO₂ heterojunction solar cell that has an area of 2 × 1.5 cm² is characterised by the current-voltage I(V) measurement. It gives an open circuit voltage of 0.45 V and a short circuit current of 74 mA.     

Thin films of tin sulphide for use in thin film solar cell devices

SnS is of interest for use as an absorber layer and the wider energy bandgap phases e.g. SnS₂, Sn₂S₃ and Sn/S/O alloys of interest as Cd-free buffer layers for use in thin film solar cells. In this work thin films of tin sulphide have been thermally evaporated onto soda-lime glass substrates with the aim of optimising the properties of the material for use in superstrate configuration device structures. The thin films were characterised using energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS) to determine the film composition, X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine the phases present and structure of each phase, transmittance versus wavelength measurements to determine the energy bandgap and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to observe the surface topology and topography. These properties were then correlated to the deposition parameters. Using the optimised conditions it is possible to produce thin films of tin sulphide that are pinhole free and conformal to the substrate that are suitable for use in thin film solar cell structures.     

Characterization of tin oxide thin films deposited by reactive sputtering

SnO_x Thin films deposited by reactive sputtering are characterized by conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, nuclear resonant scattering and Rutherford backscattering analyses and sheet resistance measurements. The samples were submitted to thermal annealing and exposed to butane gas. The highly disordered as-deposited thin film is modified under thermal processing and gas exposure, changing the oxygen vacancy concentration. This behaviour should affect the steady state response of tin oxide sensors.     

Refractive indices of textured indium tin oxide and zinc oxide thin films

The refractive indices of textured indium tin oxide (ITO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were measured and compared. The ITO thin film grown on glass and ZnO buffered glass substrates by sputtering showed distinct differences; the refractive index of ITO on glass was about 0.05 higher than that of ITO on ZnO buffered glass in the whole visible spectrum. The ZnO thin film grown on glass and ITO buffered glass substrates by filtered vacuum arc also showed distinct differences; the refractive index of ZnO on glass was higher than that of ZnO on ITO buffered glass in the red and green region, but lower in the blue region. The largest refractive index difference of ZnO on glass and ITO buffered glass was about 0.1 in the visible spectrum. The refractive index variation was correlated with the crystal quality, surface morphology and conductivity of the thin films.     

Nano-particle thin films of tin oxides

Nano-particle thin films of tin oxides were deposited on SiO₂ substrates by using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering with various substrate temperatures, sputtering powers and oxygen partial pressures. The tin oxides thin films were then investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XPS data suggested that the deposited tin oxides thin films are almost made up of half of SnO₂ and half of SnO. The oxygen partial pressure nearly does not affect the chemical stoichiometry of the thin films in our deposition conditions. SEM results showed that the tin oxides thin films were formed by nano-particles with size of about 60 nm. Sputtering power has a strong influence on the particle size of the thin films. Increase of sputtering power will enlarge the size of the particles.     

Highly conducting indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films deposited by pulsed laser ablation

Highly conducting and transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were prepared on SiO₂ glass and silicon substrates by pulsed laser ablation (PLA) from a 90 wt.% In₂O₃-10 wt.% SnO₂ sintered ceramic target. The growths of ITO films under different oxygen pressures (P_O2) ranging from 1×10⁻⁴–5×10⁻² Torr at low substrate temperatures (T_s) between room temperature (RT) and 200°C were investigated. The opto-electrical properties of the films were found to be strongly dependent on the P_O2 during the film deposition. Under a P_O2 of 1×10⁻² Torr, ITO films with low resistivity of 5.35×10⁻⁴ and 1.75×10⁻⁴ Ω cm were obtained at RT (25°C) and 200°C, respectively. The films exhibited high carrier density and reasonably high Hall mobility at the optimal P_O2 region of 1×10⁻² to 1.5×10⁻² Torr. Optical transmittance in excess of 87% in the visible region of the solar spectrum was displayed by the films deposited at Po₂≥1×10⁻² Torr and it was significantly reduced as the P_O2 decreases.     

Tin oxide thin layers obtained by vacuum evaporation of tin and annealing under oxygen flow

Tin dioxide layers have been prepared by vacuum evaporation of tin on ordinary glass substrates. Thickness of the deposited tin layers was 500 or 1000 Å. Enrichment in oxygen was ensured by a thermal annealing at temperatures between 300 and 500 °C, for 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 h. The layers were characterized using X-ray diffraction, environmental scanning electron microscopy and EDX analysis and conductivity by the 4 point method. Oxygen enrichment of these films during annealing at high temperature induces the formation of the nanocrystalline tin oxide.     

Excimer laser deposition and characteristics of tin oxide thin films

ArF excimer laser assisted chemical vapor deposition of tin oxide thin films on Si was obtained using SnCl₄ and O₂ as precursors. Experimental measurements revealed that the deposition rate increases with incident laser energy density. The composition, structure and ultraviolet-to-visible spectra of the thin films were investigated by means of XPS, SEM, XRD and a UV–Vis techniques. It was shown that SnO₂ and SnOCl₂ coexisted in the thin films, and SnOCl₂ was almost completely converted into SnO₂ after annealing. The SnO₂ thin films deposited at room temperature were amorphous in structure and the grain size of the films became larger after annealing. The transmittance of the SnO₂ thin films is above 90%, the absorption edge is 355 nm and the energy gap is 3.49 eV.     

Characterization of copper oxide thin films deposited by the thermal evaporation of cuprous oxide (Cu2O)

Thin films of copper oxide were deposited by thermal evaporation of cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) powder. The substrates were either unheated or heated to a temperature of 300 °C. The films were also annealed in air at a temperature of 500 °C for 3 h. The films were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and UV-visible spectrophotometry. The effects of the substrate temperature and post-deposition annealing on the chemical, structural and optical properties of the films were investigated. As-deposited films on unheated substrates consisted of mixed cupric oxide (CuO) and Cu₂O phases, with a higher concentration of the Cu₂O phase. However, the films deposited on heated substrates and the annealed films were predominantly of the CuO phase.