Effect of Sn-doped on microstructural and optical properties of ZnO thin films deposited by sol–gel method

In this study, transparent thin films of Sn-doped ZnO (ZnO:Sn) were deposited onto alkali-free glass substrates by a sol–gel method; the effect of Sn doping on crystallinity, microstructural and optical properties was investigated. The atomic percentages of dopant in ZnO-based sols were Sn/Zn = 0, 1, 2, 3, and 5 at.%. The as-deposited films were pre-heated at 300 °C for 10 min and then annealed in air at 500 °C for 1 h. The results show that Sn-doped ZnO thin films demonstrate obviously improved surface roughness, enhanced transmittance in the 400–600 nm wavelength range and reduced average crystallite size. Among all of the annealed ZnO-based films in this study, films doped with 2 at.% Sn concentration exhibited the best properties, namely an average transmittance of 90%, an RMS roughness value of 1.92 nm and a resistivity of 9.3 × 102 Ω-cm.