Transparent and Conducting Tin Oxide Thin Films Deposited by Spray Pyrolysis

Abstract

The chemical spray pyrolysis technique has been one of the major techniques to deposit a wide variety of materials in thin film form, for different applications. The most important control parameters for obtaining good quality thin film are the nature and temperature of the substrate, the composition of the precursor solution, the gas and solution flow rates and the deposition time.
The paper presents the morphology, the electrical and optical properties of tin oxide (SnO₂) thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis technique onto glass substrates at 400 ^oC using SnCl₂ as precursor and methanol as solvent. The change in the grain shapes and orientation is presented based on SEM data. The minimum sheet resistance of 21.4 Ω/sqr was obtained, being the lowest value reported in the literature for these materials. Optical transmittance in the range of 58-85 % has been obtained for the prepared films.