Properties of transparent conducting tin monoxide(SnO) thin films prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis method

Transparent conducting Stannous Oxide (SnO) thin films were obtained by chemical spray pyrolysis method on glass substrates for 0.1 M and 0.25 M concentration of precursor solutions. Their structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study shows polycrystalline nature of the films with orthorhombic crystal structure. The morphological analysis was carried out by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental analysis was done by Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The band gap of 0.1 M and 0.25 M thin film samples were found to be 3.58eV with 82% transmission and 3 eV with 30% transmission respectively. The film thickness, refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) of the films were obtained by ellipsometric technique. Hall effect measurements reveal p-type conduction with mobility 7.8 cm2V−1s−1 and 15 cm2V−1s−1 and conductivity of 8.5 S/cm and 17.1 S/cm respectively for the 0.1 M and 0.25 M samples. Photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the samples show a broad emission which covers near band edge (NBE) as well as deep level emission (DLE) in the region 380 nm-620 nm.