Mixed phase F-doped SnO2 film and related properties deposited by ultrasonic spraying

Fluorine-doped tin oxide thin films with amorphous/crystal mixed phases were deposited on silicon and quartz sheets by an ultrasonic spraying method and investigated with XPS, XRD, AFM and TEM techniques. The XRD spectra and the results of TEM analysis show that nanoscale amorphous clusters were formed within the grain boundary region. At room temperature, electron transportation is predominantly limited by amorphous defect scattering of the crystal grain boundary region. The minimum electrical resistivity 4.0 x 10(-4) Omega cm was obtained through decreasing the amorphous phase fraction and the preferred orientation arrangement of the crystal grains. A 0.8-eV shift exists between the tin 3d binding energy in thin films having the preferred crystallite orientation with (1 1 0) plane parallel to the substrate and that with the (2 0 0) plane parallel to the substrate. (C) 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers.