Study of structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnO and SnO2 thin films

The investigation of structure, optical and electrical properties of tin and zinc oxide films on glass substrates by using magnetron sputtering are carried out. X-ray data show the formation of textured tin oxides film during deposition and its transformation to SnO2 polycrystalline film at low temperature (200 ∘C) if the concentration of oxygen in the chamber is high (O2 — 100%, Ar — 0%). Optimal conditions of SnO2 polycrystalline film deposition (pressure of Ar–O2 mixture in chamber — 2.7 Pa, concentration of O2 — 10%) are determined. Low resistivity of as-deposited ZnO film and increasing ZnO crystallite sizes and phase volume at temperatures higher than the melting point of Zn (419.5 ∘C) are explained by formation of conductive Zn and ZnO particle chains and their destruction, respectively.