US EPA

1612986 

Journal Article 

Synthesis and characterization of nano-crystalline fluorine-doped tin oxide thin films by sol-gel method 

Banerjee, AN; Kundoo, S; Saha, P; Chattopadhyay, KK 

2003 

Yes 

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology
ISSN: 0928-0707
EISSN: 1573-4846 

28 

1 

105-110 

WOS:000185229200014 

Thin films of fluorine-doped tin-oxide (FTO) were prepared
by sol-gel dip-coating technique. Stannous chloride (SnCl2.2H(2)O) and hydrogen fluoride (HF)
were mixed with isopropyl alcohol to serve as source solution. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum
showed all the peaks of the crystalline SnO2. Analysis of XRD spectrum showed the particle size
to be nearly 6 nm, which indicated the nanocrystalline structure of the films. Strain calculation
by integral breadth (IB) method from XRD data showed a value of 0.010. UV-Visible
spectrophotometric measurement showed high transparency of the films in the visible region and
the band gap was calculated to be 3.34 eV. The room temperature resistivity of the films were of
the order of 1 Omegacm. Fluorine concentration in the films was determined from energy dispersive
X-ray (EDX) study. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics at high temperatures showed the Poole-
Frenkel effect of thermionic emission. SEM study indicated the existence of fine grains in the
film. FT-IR spectroscopy showed strong Sn-O and Sn-O Sn bonding. 

tin oxide; fluorine; nanocrystalline; Poole-Frenkel effect