The role of oxygen vacancy in fluorine-doped SnO2 films

The fluorine-doped tin oxide films (FTO) were prepared with SnCl2 and SnCl4 precursors using the spray pyrolysis method. The vibrational feature of oxygen vacancy in FTIR has been identified. The oxygen vacancy plays a role of donor in FTO films, although it becomes inconspicuous with an increase in fluorine concentration in the solution. The substitution of fluorine for oxygen has also been confirmed by FTIR spectrum, and it further indicates the production of fluorine doping is α-SnF2. The reflectivity shows a close relation with the carrier concentration, suggested by the Drude theory. The discussion of scattering mechanism in FTO films suggests that impurity ions are the main scattering centers for free carriers.