ชุมพล เหลืองชัยศรี. A Study and Characterization of Semiconductive Films of SnO2 and F-doped SnO2 Prepared by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis Technique. Doctoral Degree(Physics). King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi. KMUTT Library. : King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 2011.
A Study and Characterization of Semiconductive Films of SnO2 and F-doped SnO2 Prepared by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis Technique
Abstract:
Tin dioxide (SnO2) and fluorine doped tin dioxide (SnO2:F or FTO) films were prepared
on glass slide substrates by a homemade ultrasonic spray pyrolysis apparatus. The
control conditions for all prepared films were the coating time of 15 min and the
varying substrate temperatures of 300, 350 and 400 C. For the deposition of the Sn02
films, the spray solution was tin tetrachloride pentahydrate (SnCl4 5H2O) dissolved in
deionized water at 0.3M concentration. For the deposition of FTO films, the spray
solution was the same with an addition of ammonium fluoride (NH4F). During the film
deposition, small solution droplets evaporated and dried, leaving the SnCl4 particles to
adhere onto the substrate. The amount of SnCl4 particles were increased and made the
film more opaque when the substrate temperature was increased due to higher
evaporation rate. These insulated solid particles could lower the film's conductivity due
to the decrease of carriers' concentration and charge mobility. The resistivity of
prepared SnO2 film decreased as the substrate temperature was increased from 300 to
350 C as a result of the increase of charge mobility although the carriers' concentration
was decreased due to the increasing amount of SnCl4 particles. As the substrate
temperature was increased from 350 to 400 C the resistivity increased due to higher
solid particles of SnCl4 that lower both of charge mobility and carriers' concentration.
The lowest resistivity of SnO2 film was found to be 0.97 Om-cm at 350 C. For the FTO
films deposition, the NH4F/SnCl4 ratio was varied from 0, 5, 10, 20 and 40 mol%,
respectively. The optimal resistivity for all substrate temperatures was observed at 10
mol% due to the limited amount of P- ions substitution of 0 2- ions. The resistivity of
FTO rapidly decreased from 300 to 350?C due to more P- ions substitution and higher
charge mobility resulting from the increase of film crystallinity. However, the resistivity
slowly decreased from 350 to 400 C due to the increase of SnCl4 particles which
reduced the increasing rate of the carriers' concentration and mobility. The lowest
resistivity was found to be 3.62x10-3 Om-cm at 400 C. To improve the electrical
properties of the prepared FTO films, the annealing treatment in air atmosphere was
investigated. First, the as - deposited films were prepared with the optimum
NH4F/SnCl4 ratio of 10 mol% at the substrate temperatures of 300 C to reduce the
amount of SnCl4 particles adhering on the substrates. The annealing temperature and
time were varied from 200, 250, 300 and 350 C, and 15, 30 and 45 min, respectively.
After the annealing process, it was found that the carriers' concentration decreased due
to the O atoms substitution of F atoms. Furthermore, the higher annealing temperature
resulted in the faster decreasing of the carriers' concentration. On the other hand, the
charge mobility was increased due to larger grain sizes that provided less grain
boundary scattering. These two effects allowed the lowest resistivity to occur at a longer
annealing time for a low annealing temperature and a shorter annealing time for a high
annealing temperature. The optical transmission of annealed FTO films was found to
decrease at longer wavelengths due to two reasons. Firstly, the higher carriers'
concentration at lower annealing temperature increased the plasma frequency of the
films and decreased the cut-off wavelength. Secondly, the higher charge mobility
increased the slope of the cut-off wavelength and reduced the optical transmission faster
in the longer wavelength. It can be concluded that the most optimal annealing condition
was 200 C for 45 min, which could reduce the resistivity from 8.40x10-1 to 7.48x10-2
Om-cm.