Structural and electrical properties of Sb-doped SnO2 thin films prepared by metal organic decomposition

Abstract

Sb-doped SnO2 thin films were prepared by metal organic decomposition through pyrolysis of organic acid salts. The dependence of the structural and electrical properties of the films on the Sb concentration, annealing temperature, and film thickness was investigated. A polycrystalline rutile structure was confirmed for all samples using X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy measurements. Structural properties of the samples improved with an increase of the annealing temperature, and deteriorated with an increase of the Sb concentration. The resistivity of the Sb-doped SnO2 thin films decreased above 3.0 at.% Sb doping. It was suggested that for each film thickness, there was an optimum annealing temperature in terms of the resistivity. The lowest resistivity (3.6 × 10−3 Ωcm) was obtained for the sample with a Sb concentration of 3.0 at.% and a film thickness of 550 nm, that was annealed at 900 °C.