Influence of reactor neutrons irradiation on electrical, optical and structural properties of SnO2 film prepared by sol-gel method

SnO2 films elaborated by sol-gel method were irradiated with reactor neutron. The irradiations were made at a temperature of about 40 °C, with fast neutron fluences (En>1.2 MeV) up to 9.6×1017 n cm−2. The induced defect has been studied by electrical, optical and structural measurements. The electrical measurements show that the resistivity rapidly increases with increasing fluences up to 3.2×1017 n cm−2 and remains constant for higher fluence (>6.4×1017 n cm−2). The optical measurements show a small decrease of the optical band gap with increasing fluences. From the X-ray diffraction patterns, it was found that the crystallinity and grain size are reduced.