Effect of F doping on physical properties of (211) oriented SnO2 thin films prepared by jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique

Transparent conducting fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) thin films have been prepared jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique at 500 °C for different doping concentrations. The X-ray diffraction spectra confirm the polycrystalline nature of SnO2: F with tetragonal structure. All the films show a preferred growth orientation along (211) diffraction plane. Scanning electron microscope images show that the films have a uniform surface morphology with well defined pyramid like grains. The AFM results of the films indicate that the surface roughness is increased with F doping. The optical transmittance of FTO films is improved from 75 to 92% in the visible region of the solar spectrum and the optical absorption of the films is very low. The blue shift of optical band of the films is explained by Burstain-Mass effect. The observed blue shift of the UV emission band in the photoluminescence spectra confirms the incorporation of F into tin oxide crystal lattice. The presence of functional groups and chemical bonding were confirmed by FTIR. Hall Effect measurements show that the prepared films having n-type conductivity with low resistivity (2.3 × 10−4 Ω-cm) and high carrier concentrations (6.9 × 1020 cm−3).