Transport properties in Sb-doped SnO2 thin films: Effect of UV illumination and temperature dependence

Films of Sb-doped SnO2 were deposited by dip-coating technique. The morphology analysis showed that the microstructure of the samples exhibits many shaped nano-sized crystallites homogenously dispersed on the surfaces. The roughness varies with Sb-content, implying that doping has an important effect on the surface morphology of the films. Raman and FTIR-ATR investigations revealed that the films exhibit a vibration mode at 564 cm(-1) ascribed to the amorphous phase overlapping the crystallites. Thus, the selection rule (k = 0) is relaxed because of disorder and reduced crystallites size to nanoscale by Sb-doping, which may explain the broadening and shift of the lattice modes. The vibration of sub-bridging oxygen atoms seems to be significantly affected by oxygen vacancies and Sb-derived surface mode has been identified at 578 cm(-1). The optical band gap is red-shift due to the introduction of localized states in the SnO2 bulk associated to Sb-doping and oxygen defects. The refractive index varies due the enhanced grain boundaries effect and surface disorder induced by Sb incorporation in the crystal lattice. The photoconductivity (sigma(ac)) shows a dispersion pattern with two regions, corresponding to extrinsic and intrinsic conductivities. Under UV-illumination, the electrical charge transport mechanism changes from mull-hopping to single-hopping at higher temperatures.