The effect of substrate temperature on the microstructural properties of nanocrystalline tin oxide coatings produced by APCVD

Abstract

Tin oxide thin films were grown by chemical vapor deposition on glass substrates at atmospheric pressure and temperatures of 400, 500, and 600A degrees C over deposition times from 15 to 60 min with 15-min intervals to investigate the effect of deposition time. A homemade horizontal reactor was used for deposition from SnCl(2) + 2H(2)O precursors with pure oxygen flowing at a rate of 5 ccpm. The structure was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy techniques to reveal the deposition mechanisms and crystalline structures. XRD analysis showed that the predominant phase in all experimental conditions was SnO(2). From the XRD analysis, it is understood that the preferred orientation of the SnO(2) films is dependent on their thickness, which is affected by deposition time and substrate temperature.