Influences of organic ligands on the microstructure and properties of sol-gel antimony-doped tin oxide thin films.
The antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) thin films were prepared by sol-gel dip-coating process from SnCl2 2H2O and SbCl3 in alcoholic solutions. The influences of organic ligands, including acetic acids (HAc), acetic acids with monoethanolamine (in brief HAc + MEA), and acetic acids with acetylacetone (in brief HAc + AcAc), on the the microstructure and electrical properties of the thin films have been investigated. The thermal behavior of the ATO gels powders and the microstructures of the thin films have been characterized by using thermogravimetric (TG), differential scanning calorimetric (DSC), Fourier transform infra-red spectral (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The electrical resistivity of the thin films was detected by four-probe instrument measurement. The thin films with HAc + MEA as coordination ligands had a good crystal quality and showed a preferred orientation along (101) plane when heated at 450 degrees C. As a consequence, it exhibited the best electrical performance. An electrical resistivity of about 6.3 x 10(-3) omega cm could be achieved for the films with 500 nm thickness.
Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Renewable Energy and Gas Hydrate Key Laboratory of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, P. R. China.
Xueqing
X
Xu
Yinling
Y
Wang
Gang
G
Xu
Xinhua
X
He