A study of the structural and electronic properties of magnetron sputtered tin oxide films

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Abstract
Tin oxide (SnOx) films have been deposited using a RF magnetron sputtering technique from a hot pressed SnO2 target in an ambient mixture of argon and oxygen. Depending on the deposition parameters the structure of the films may be varied from amorphous to crystalline along with a consequent decrease in resistivity. An attempt has been made to understand the causes of formation of insulating and conducting films. By optimizing the oxygen partial pressure and substrate temperature, SnOx films of resistivity 6.1*10-3 Omega cm with a corresponding optical transmission approximately 95% and direct optical gap of 4.13 eV can be prepared. For films having a relatively high conductivity, a long exposure to the atmosphere changed their electronic properties which could be partially recovered by annealing. The effect of annealing SnOx films in different ambients was studied.