Structural,electrical and optical properties of r.f.-magnetron-sputtered SnO2:Sb film

The effects of gas composition, pressure and substrate temperature on the properties of relatively thick (0.2–0.8 μm) SnO₂ films deposited onto fused quartz substrates by r.f. magnetron sputtering are reported. The lowest resistivity of about 2 × 10^?3ωcm was attained for high rate deposition conditions of about $\text{1000}\text{A}\text{?}\text{min}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ on substrates at a temperature of 400°C in an atmosphere of 10% O₂. This value corresponds to a carrier density of 3 × 10²⁰cm^?3 and a mobility of 10 cm²V^?1s^?1. The crystal structure was found to be sensitive to all the above parameters. Low resistivity films showed a highly preferred orientation of (101) parallel to the substrate.