PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE OXIDE LAYEll

Abstract

Transparent Conducting Oxide (TCO) thin film as tin oxide is an n-type semi­ conductor with high electrical conductivity as well as high transparency in the visible solar spectrum. The aim of this work is to prepare transparent, highly conductive tin oxide films using the spraying technique. Films have been investigated as a function of concentration of tin precursor from 0.I to I.6 M SnCk The effects of concentration on the electrical and optical properties have been studied. X-ray diffraction pattern before and after heat treatment at 600 °C for three hours have been studied as well. It is found that increasing the tin precursor concentration improves the sheet resistance of the sprayed film. After heat treatment the sheet resistance deteriorates. This phenomenon car be explained using the x-ray diffraction pattern by considering the change of [200] orientation, which has a dominating effect on the sheet resistance through controlling trap densities and the incorporated tin. The grain size is almost the same before and after heat treatment, which confirms the effect of [200] orientation on the film resistance.