Structural, Compositional and Optical Properties of Nebulizer Sprayed Tin Oxide (SnO2) Thin Films at Different Temperatures

SnO2 thin films are prepared by employing nebulizer spray pyrolysis (NSP) technique with various substrate temperatures as 300 oC, 350 oC, 400 oC and 450 oC. The morphological and optical properties of the materials are determined. The micro structural parameters like grain size, dislocation density, strain and crystallite size under different deposition temperatures are calculated. The X-ray diffraction pattern shows that the films are highly crystalline in nature. The grains of the thin films are found to grow with increased temperature. The grain growth and smoothness of the surface are observed from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The stoichiometric analysis is done by energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis. From the UV-VIS spectrum it is observed that the percentage of transmission is enhanced with the increase of the substrate temperature. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra show the very sharp peaks indicating the interstitial oxygen vacancies.