Studies on structural and electrical properties of spray deposited SnO2:F thin films as a function of film thickness

Thin films of fluorine-doped tin oxide (SnO2:F) on glass were prepared by spray pyrolysis technique from an economic stannous chloride (SnCl,) precursor. In order to find out the effect of solution concentration on growth of the films, these films were prepared using different precursor concentrations. In the present paper we report the thickness dependent properties of SnO2:F films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies revealed that the preferred orientation of the films varies with the film thickness and are reflected in scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies as they showed different grain shapes. The minimum sheet resistance (3.2 Omega/rectangle) achieved in the present study was found to be the lowest among the earlier reported values for these films prepared from SnCl, precursor. The possibility of various scattering mechanisms as to be a dominant factor in limiting the mobility of charge carriers has been analysed. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.