The effect of substrate temperature on the electrical and optic properties of nanocrystalline tin oxide coatings produced by APCVD

Tin oxide thin films were grown by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) on glass substrates at temperatures of 400, 500 and 600 °C with various deposition times from 15 to 60 min with 15 min time intervals. A homemade horizontal reactor was used for deposition from SnCl2+2H2O precursors with pure oxygen flowing at a rate of 5 ccpm. Optical and electrical properties were studied for determining the relationship between physical properties and production parameters of the resultant thin films. The structure was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction methods. Electrical and optical properties were studied to determine resistivity, visible light transmission and infrared transmission optical transmittance of the coatings for different, specific application areas.

► Tin oxide based thin films deposited from SnCl2·5H2O by APCVD.
► Analyzing the effect of substrate temperature and time on microstructure and phase growth.
► Double oxides of SnO2 and SnO were detected at 600 oC over 30 min deposition time.
► Thick films produced decreased amount of optical transmission.
► Double phase deposited thin films resulted in increase in resistivity and decrease in infrared isolation.