Effect of RF Sputtering Power and Deposition Time on Optical and Electrical Properties of Indium Tin Oxide Thin Film

Indium tin oxide (ITO) films are widely used as transparent conducting electrodes in solar cells, gas sensors, and car windows because of their high electrical conductivity and good optical transparency in the visible region. In this work, ITO thin films were prepared by cathodic radio-frequency (RF) sputtering using an ITO target with 90% In2O3 and 10% SnO2. The structural properties were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and X-ray reflectometry (XRR). Electrical measurements were performed by applying the four-point method and studying the Hall Effect. Finally, optical properties were taken by the UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometry. The effect of the RF power and deposition time on optical and electrical properties was investigated. It is shown that by using a RF power of 110–80 W, one can prepare crystalline samples with low resistivity, which is an aimed property for TCO semiconductors. Electrical measurements revealed that the resistivity decreases by increasing the RF power and/or the deposition time.

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Optical and electrical properties of crystalline indium tin oxide thin film deposited by vacuum evaporation technique

Optoelectronics Letters ◽

10.1007/s11801-019-9006-4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (5) ◽

pp. 356-359

Author(s):

Md. Mottaleb Hosen ◽

A. K. M. Atique Ullah ◽

Md. Mahbubul Haque ◽

S. M. Abdur Rahim ◽

K. M. Abdus Sobahan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Electrical Properties ◽

Tin Oxide ◽

Indium Tin Oxide ◽

Vacuum Evaporation ◽

Oxide Thin Film ◽

Optical And Electrical Properties ◽

Evaporation Technique ◽

Vacuum Evaporation Technique

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Effect Of Fluorine Doping On The Structural, Optical And Electrical Properties Of Spin Coated Tin Oxide Thin Films For Solar Cells Application

10.36293/sfj.2019.0002 ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Electrical Properties ◽

Tin Oxide ◽

Transparent Conducting Oxide ◽

Optical And Electrical Properties ◽

Fluorine Doping ◽

X Ray Diffraction ◽

X Ray ◽

Transparent Conducting

Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) thin films are materials of significance for their applications in optoelectronics and sun powered cells. Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) is an elective material in the advancement of TCO films. This paper reports the impact of fluorine doping on structural, optical and electrical properties of tin oxide thin films for solar cells application. The sol-gel was prepared from anhydrous stannous chloride, SnCl2 as an originator, 2-methoxyethanol as a solvent, di-ethanolamine as a preservative and ammonium fluoride as the dopant source. FTO precursor solution was formulated to obtain 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 % doping concentration and deposited on glass substrates by means of spin coater at the rate of 2000 rpm for 40 seconds. After pre-heated at 200 oC, the samples were annealed at 600 oC for 2 h. The structural, optical and electrical characteristics of prepared films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, UV-visible spectroscopy and electrical measurement. X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigation of the films demonstrated that the films were polycrystalline in nature with tetragonal-cassiterite structure with most extraordinary pinnacle having a grain size of 17.01 nm. Doping with fluorine decreases the crystallite size. There was increment in the absorbance of the film with increasing wavelength and the transmittance was basically reduced with increasing fluorine doping in the visible region. The energy band gaps were in the range of 4.106-4.121 eV. The sheet resistance were observed to decrease as the doping percentage of fluorine increased with exception at higher doping of 15 and 20 %. In view of these outcomes, FTO thin films prepared could have useful application in transparent conducting oxide electrode in solar cell.

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