Deposition and characterization of nanostructured SNO2 films by sol gel spin coating method

In this work, undoped and F doped SnO2 films were deposited on borofloat substrates by sol gel method using spin coating technique.The structural, morphological and optical properties of these films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyzer, field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and UV-VIS spectrophotometer, respectively. From the XRD spectra of the undopped and F doped SnO2 films were found to have a tetragonal rutile structure with a polycrystalline nature. Structural parameters (grain size, lattice parameters, texture coefficients) have been calculated. All of the films show the preferred orientation along the plane(110). Other orientations (101), (200) and (211) are also observed,but with lower intensities. It was seen that the SnO2 films have nanostructured particles and have decrased the particle sizes with the incorporation of fluorine from the FESEM images. Also, it was observed that the films have homogene. The optical band gaps of the films were determined by using theanalysis of optical absorption spectra. The optical band gaps of the undoped and F doped SnO2films were found to be 3.48-4.23 eV and 3.69-4.16 eV, respectively. Also, the optical constants of the films (refractive index, extinction coefficient and dielectric constants) were calculated.