Structure, optical and electrical properties of indium tin oxide ultra thin films prepared by jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique

• ITO films were fabricated by jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique.
• The physical and chemical properties of ITO thin films were studied.
• Surface roughness of the films is decreased.
• Optical transmittance and electrical conductivity were increased.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films have been prepared by jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique for different Sn concentrations on glass substrates. X-ray diffraction patterns reveal that all the films are polycrystalline of cubic structure with preferentially oriented along (222) plane. SEM images show that films exhibit uniform surface morphology with well-defined spherical particles. The EDX spectrum confirms the presence of In, Sn and O elements in prepared films. AFM result indicates that the surface roughness of the films is reduced as Sn doping. The optical transmittance of ITO thin films is improved from 77% to 87% in visible region and optical band gap is increased from 3.59 to 4.07 eV. Photoluminescence spectra show mainly three emissions peaks (UV, blue and green) and a shift observed in UV emission peak. The presence of functional groups and chemical bonding was analyzed by FTIR. Hall effect measurements show prepared films having n-type conductivity with low resistivity (3.9 × 10−4 Ω-cm) and high carrier concentrations (6.1 × 1020 cm−3).