Abstract
In this work, amorphous tin oxide thin films were deposited by non-reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering. A ceramic \({\text{SnO}}_2\) target was used, while different working pressures were employed. The target to substrate distance was fixed to 17 cm, and the substrate was not intentionally heated. The properties of \({\text{SnO}}_2\) (thickness, refractive index dispersion, optical band gap, resistivity, free carriers concentration, carriers mobility, carriers majority type and their scattering time) have been inferred from spectroscopic ellipsometry, conventional UV-Vis spectroscopy and specific Hall electrical measurements. Thickness and refractive index are slightly dependent on the deposition conditions, while the optical band gap, free carriers concentration and their mobilities are changing from sample to sample. The evolution of the optical band gap and carriers concentration is correlated to the active defects concentration. Amorphous \({\text{SnO}}_2\) films grown at 0.4 Pa have the lowest resistivity of \(0.86\,\Omega \, \hbox {cm}\), a carrier concentration of \(1.05 \times 10^{18}\,\hbox {cm}^{-3}\), and a Hall mobility of \(6.8\,\hbox {cm}^{2}\)/ Vs. The average optical transmittance in visible spectrum is 76%.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
K.M. Niang, J. Cho, S. Heffernan, W.I. Milne, A.J. Flewitt, J. Appl. Phys. 120, 8 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4961608
X. Yu, T.J. Marks, A. Facchetti, Nat. Mater. 15(4), 383 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4599
K. Nomura, A. Takagi, T. Kamiya, H. Ohta, M. Hirano, H. Hosono, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 45, 4303 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1143/jjap.45.4303
J.F. Wager, B. Yeh, R.L. Hoffman, D.A. Keszler, Curr. Opin. Solid State Mater. Sci. 18, 53 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cossms.2013.07.002
I. Noviyana, A.D. Lestari, M. Putri, M.S. Won, J.S. Bae, Y.W. Heo, H.Y. Lee, Materials 10, 702 (2017). https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10070702
Q.H. Zhang, L.V. Saraf, F. Hua, Nanotechnology 18, 195204 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/18/19/195204
K.J. Saji, A.P.R. Mary, ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 4, Q101 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0091509jss
C. Besleaga, G.E. Stan, I. Pintilie, P. Barquinha, E. Fortunato, R. Martins, Appl. Surf. Sci. 379, 270 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.04.083
J. Barbé, M.L. Tietze, M. Neophytou, B. Murali, E. Alarousu, A. El Labban, M. Abulikemu, W. Yue, O.F. Mohammed, I. McCulloch, A. Amassian, S. Del Gobbo, A.C.S. Appl, Mater. Interfaces 9, 11828 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b13675
Y. Lee, S. Lee, G. Seo, S. Paek, K.T. Cho, A.J. Huckaba, M. Calizzi, D.W. Choi, J.S. Park, D. Lee, H.J. Lee, A.M. Asiri, M.K. Nazeeruddin, Adv. Sci. 5, 1800130 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201800130
M. Xie, X. Sun, S.M. George, C.G. Zhou, J. Lian, Y. Zhou, A.C.S. Appl, Mater. Interfaces 7, 27735 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b08719
L.L. Fan, X.F. Li, B. Yan, X.J. Li, D.B. Xiong, D. Li, H. Xu, X.F. Zhang, X.L. Sun, Appl. Energy 175, 529 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.02.094
X. Liu, H. Ning, J. Chen, W. Cai, S. Hu, R. Tao, Y. Zeng, Z. Zheng, R. Yao, M. Xu, L. Wang, L. Lan, J. Peng, Appl. Phys. Lett. 108, 11 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4944639
D.B. Ruan, P.T. Liu, Y.H. Chen, Y.C. Chiu, T.C. Chien, M.C. Yu, K.J. Gan, S.M. Sze, Adv. Electron. Mater. 5(3), 1800824 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.201800824
Y. Tang, L. Gao, J. Liu, S.H. Bo, Z. Xie, J. Wei, Z. Zhou, J. Mater. Chem. A 8, 18087–18093 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1039/C9TA13347J
F.J. Arlinghaus, J. Phys. Chem. Solids 35, 931 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3697(74)80102-2
Z.M. Jarzebski, J.P. Morton, J. Electrochem. Soc. 123, 333C (1976). https://doi.org/10.1149/1.2132647
J. Rockenberger, U. zum Felde, M. Tischer, L. Trőger, M. Haase, H. Weller, J. Chem. Phys. 112, 4296 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.480975
M. Batzill, U. Diebold, Prog. Surf. Sci. 79, 47 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progsurf.2005.09.002
S. Saipriya, M. Sultan, R. Singh, Physica B 406, 812 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2010.12.003
A. Togo, F. Oba, I. Tanaka, K. Tatsumi, Phys. Rev. B 74, 1098–10121 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.74.195128
Y. Ogo, H. Hiramatsu, K. Nomura, H. Yanagi, T. Kamiya, M. Hirano, H. Hosono, Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 3183–3196 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2964197
E. Fortunato, R. Barros, P. Barquinha, V. Figueiredo, S.H.K. Park, C.S. Hwang, R. Martins, Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 052105 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3469939
E. Chan y Díaz, J.M. Camacho, A. Duarte-Moller, R. Castro-Rodríguez, P. Bartolo-Pérez, J. Alloys Compd. 508, 342 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2010.08.076
Ç. Kiliç, A. Zunger, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 171–198 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.095501
S. Samson, C.G. Fonstad, J. Appl. Phys. 44, 4618 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1662011
H. Kim, C.M. Gilmore, A. Piqué, J.S. Horwitz, H. Mattoussi, H. Murata, Z.H. Kafafi, D.B. Chrisey, J. Appl. Phys. 86, 6451 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.371708
T. Kamiya, H. Hosono, Int. J. Appl. Ceram. Technol. 2, 285 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7402.2005.02033.x
P. Shewale, K. Ung Sim, Y.B. Kim, J. Kim, A. Moholkar, M. Uplane, J. Lumin. 139, 113 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2013.01.021
C. Sankar, V. Ponnuswamy, M. Manickam, R. Mariappan, R. Suresh, Appl. Surf. Sci. 349, 931 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.04.198
S. Ingole, S. Navale, Y. Navale, D. Bandgar, F. Stadler, R. Mane, N. Ramgir, S. Gupta, D. Aswal, V. Patil, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 493, 162 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2017.01.025
Y. Li, O.R. Musaev, J.M. Wrobel, M.B. Kruger, Appl. Phys. A 124(7), 499 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-018-1919-4
N. Talebian, F. Jafarinezhad, Ceram. Int. 39(7), 8311 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2013.03.101
R. Djamil, K. Aicha, A. Souifi, D. Fayçal, Thin Solid Films 623, 1 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2016.12.035
C. Kim, S. Cho, S. Kim, S.E. Kim, ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 6(12), P765 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0061712jss
A.K. Gangwar, R. Godiwal, J. Jaiswal, V. Baloria, P. Pal, G. Gupta, P. Singh, Vacuum 177, 109353 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2020.109353
Y. Tao, B. Zhu, Y. Yang, J. Wu, X. Shi, Mater. Chem. Phys. 250, 123129 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2020.123129
H.B. Lee, N. Kumar, M.M. Ovhal, Y.J. Kim, Y.M. Song, J. Kang, Adv. Funct. Mater. 30(24), 2001559 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202001559
Z. Guo, A.K. Jena, I. Takei, G.M. Kim, M.A. Kamarudin, Y. Sanehira, A. Ishii, Y. Numata, S. Hayase, T. Miyasaka, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 142, 9725–9734 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.0c02227
M. Anwar, S.A. Siddiqi, I.M. Ghauri, Int. J. Mod. Phys. B 21, 2017 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217979207037144
S.J. Ikhmayies, Int. J. Mater. Chem. 2, 173 (2012). https://doi.org/10.5923/j.ijmc.20120204.10
Y. Caglar, S. Ilican, M. Caglar, Eur. Phys. J. B 58, 251 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2007-00227-y
J. Ren, K. Li, J. Yang, D. Lin, H. Kang, J. Shao, R. Fu, Q. Zhang, Sci. China Mater. 62(6), 803 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-018-9380-8
R. Mientus, M. Weise, S. Seeger, R. Heller, K. Ellmer, Coatings 10(3), 204 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings10030204
A. De, S. Ray, J. Phys. D-Appl. Phys. 24, 719 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/24/5/014
H.S. So, J.W. Park, D.H. Jung, K.H. Ko, H. Lee, J. Appl. Phys. 118, 085303 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4929487
B.S. Tosun, R.K. Feist, A. Gunawan, K.A. Mkhoyan, S.A. Campbell, E.S. Aydil, Thin Solid Films 520, 2554 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2011.10.169
S.E.K. Kim, M. Oliver, Met. Mater.-Int. 16, 441 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12540-010-0614-6
M. Al-Mansoori, S. Al-Shaibani, A. Al-Jaeedi, J. Lee, D. Choi, F.S. Hasoon, AIP Adv. 7, 125105 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5001883
S. Bansal, D.K. Pandya, S.C. Kashyap, Thin Solid Films 524, 30 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2012.09.062
T. Matsumura, Y. Sato, J. Mod. Phys. 1, 340 (2010). https://doi.org/10.4236/jmp.2010.15048
R. Kinder, M. Mikolášek, D. Donoval, J. Kováč, M. Tlaczala, J. Electr. Eng. 64, 106 (2013). https://doi.org/10.2478/jeec-2012-0015
C.R. Nave, Hyperphysics. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Kinetic/menfre.html
K. Wasa, M. Kitabatake, H. Adachi, Thin Film Materials Technology: Sputtering of Compound Materials (Springer, Berlin, 2004)
D. Depla, S. Mahieu, J.E. Greene, in Handbook of Deposition Technologies for Films and Coatings, ed. by P.M. Martin (Elsevier, 2010), chap. 5, pp. 253–296
J. Tauc, R. Grigorovici, A. Vancu, Phys. Status Solidi B-Basic Solid State Phys. 15, 627 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1002/pssb.19660150224
E.A. Davis, N.F. Mott, Philos. Mag. 22, 0903 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1080/14786437008221061
T. Kamiya, K. Nomura, M. Hirano, H. Hosono, Phys. Status Solidi C 5, 3098 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1002/pssc.200779300
A.R. Zanatta, M. Mulato, I. Chambouleyron, J. Appl. Phys. 84, 5184 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.368768
A.L. Cauchy, Bull. Des. Sci. Math. 14 (1830)
A.C. Galca, V. Stancu, M.A. Husanu, C. Dragoi, N.G. Gheorghe, L. Trupina, M. Enculescu, E. Vasile, Appl. Surf. Sci. 257, 5938 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.01.056
S. Polosan, A.C. Galca, M. Secu, Solid State Sci. 13, 49 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2010.10.007
A.C. Galca, G.E. Stan, L.M. Trinca, C.C. Negrila, L.C. Nistor, Thin Solid Films 524, 328 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2012.10.015
M. Jerman, Z.H. Qiao, D. Mergel, Appl. Opt. 44, 3006 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.44.003006
S.K. Tripathy, Opt. Mater. 46, 240 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2015.04.026
K. Ellmer, J. Phys. D-Appl. Phys. 34(21), 3097 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/34/21/301
B. Bissig, T. Jäger, L. Ding, A.N. Tiwari, Y.E. Romanyuk, APL Mater. 3, 062802 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4916586
S. Elhalawaty, K. Sivaramakrishnan, N.D. Theodore, T.L. Alford, Thin Solid Films 518, 3326 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2009.10.014
Acknowledgements
N.Z. acknowledges Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Agence universitaire de la Francophonie for the ’Eugen Ionescu’ research scholarship. All authors acknowledge the financial support of the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation in the framework of the Core project PN18-11.
Funding
Not applicable.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
NZ: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Validation, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. ACG: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. MSB: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing—review & editing. SI: Formal analysis, Investigation, Validation, Visualization, Writing—review & editing.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ziani, N., Galca, A.C., Belkaid, M.S. et al. Argon pressure dependent optoelectronic characteristics of amorphous tin oxide thin films obtained by non-reactive RF sputtering process. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 12308–12317 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-05861-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-05861-2