The role of electric field during spray deposition on fluorine doped tin oxide film

The fluorine doped tin oxide film has been deposited on 10 cm × 10 cm glass substrate by using spray technique with a voltage applied between the nozzle and an annular electrode placed 2 mm below the nozzle. The effect of the electric field thus created during the spray deposition on structural, optical and electrical properties of SnO2:F (FTO) film was studied. X-ray diffraction pattern revealed the presence of cassiterite structure with (2 0 0) orientation for all the FTO film. SEM study revealed the formation of smooth and uniform surface FTO film under the electric field over the entire substrate area. The electrical measurements show that the film prepared under the electric field (for an applied voltage of 2000 V) had a resistivity ∼1.2 × 10−3 Ω cm, carrier concentration ∼4.21 × 1020 cm−3 and mobility ∼14.48 cm2 V−1 s−1. The sprayed FTO film have the average transmission in the visible region of more than about 80%.