Structural and Physical Property Analysis of ZnO-SnO2—In2O3—Ga2O3 Quaternary Transparent Conducting Oxide System

The increasing demand in the diverse device applications of transparent conducting oxides（TCOs） requires synthesis of new TCOs of n- or p-type conductivity.This article is about materials engineering of ZnO—SnO₂—ln₂O₃—Ga₂O₃ to synthesize powders of the quaternary compound Zn_2-xSn_1-xJn_xGa_xO_4-δ in the stoichiometry of x = 0.2,0.3,and 0.4 by solid state reaction at 1275℃.Lattice parameters were determined by X-ray diffraction（XRD） technique and solubility of ln³⁺ and Ga³⁺ in spinel Zn₂SnO₄ was found at 1275℃.The solubility limit of ln³⁺ and Ga³⁺ in Zn₂SnO₄ is found at below x = 0.4.The optical transmittance approximated by the UV—Vis reflectance spectra showed excellent characteristics while optical band gap was consistent across 3.2 eV with slight decrease along increasing x value.Carrier mobility of the species was considerably higher than the older versions of zinc stannate spinel co-substitutions whereas the carrier concentrations were moderate.