Physical and Electrical Properties of Nano-Structured Sn-Doped Zinc Oxide Thin Film at Different Sn Doping Concentrations

Abstract

In this paper, the nanostructured Sn-doped ZnO thin films were prepared by Spin coating technique on glass substrates at various Sn doping of 0, 1, 1.5, 1, 2.0 and 3 at.%. The structural, optical and electrical properties were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis-NIR and I-V measurement, respectively. The surface morphology reveals that the average particle size of nanostructured Sn-doped ZnO thin films decreased as the Sn concentrations increased. The results show all films are transparent in the visible region with average transmittance above 88%. Meanwhile, the resistivity of Sn-soped ZnO thin films was decreased when the Sn concentrations increased. Among all of Sn-doped ZnO thin films, the thin films doped with 2 at.% shows the optimum properties of average resistivity and transmittance were 7.7 x 102 Ω.Cm and 96%, respectively.