Structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of spray-deposited Sb-doped WO3 nanocrystalline thin films prepared using ammonium tungstate precursor

Abstract

Spray-deposited Sb-doped WO3 thin films have been investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray system, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in order to study structural and morphological properties of the films. The XRD and Raman studies confirm the monoclinic phase of WO3 with preferred orientation along the (200) plane. The SEM and AFM analyses show that with the increase of Sb-doping concentration, the surface becomes more and more compact, and the surface roughness increases. Both the direct and indirect band gap energies have been found to decrease upon Sb doping. PL emission spectra show two major peaks—one blue emission at 424 nm and another green emission at 500 nm. The electrical studies reveal that the room temperature resistivity decreases with the increasing Sb doping concentration.