Preparation Of Transparent Conducting Tin-Antimony Oxide Thin Films By DC Magnetron Sputtering

Wide band-gap oxide materials have been widely researched in recent years,and due to the excellent optoelectric properties,the oxide materials based on Sn-Sb alloy have been paid much attention,But so far,little has been done on systemic study of Sn-Sb alloy oxides and their doping behavior.In this thesis,the development of transparent conducting oxide thin films(TCOs) has been reviewed;the structure and properties of SnO₂ and Sb₂O₄ have been briefly introduced.Both n-type and p-type transparent conducting tin-antimony oxide thin films were successfully prepared by DC reactive magnetron sputtering.It was found that with the increase of O₂ partial pressure ratio,the conduction type of Sb₂O₄:Sn thin films were changed from n-type to p-type.P-type Sb₂O₄:Sn films were obtained in conditions of 10%≤Sn/Sb ratio≤20% and O₂ partial pressure ratio≥27%.The crystallinity and optoelectric properties were improved as the annealing temperature increased.The optimum properties were achieved with hole concentration as high as 5.641×10¹⁹cm^-3and a lowest resistivity value of 0.177Ω·cm.The mechanism of p-type Sb₂O₄:Sn films is that Sn⁴⁺ions enter into the substitution sites of Sb⁵⁺acting as acceptors,which realized p-type conduction.As the O₂ partial pressure ratio≤9%,n-type SnO₂:Sb thin films were obtained with the resistivity as low as 5.105×10^-3Ωcm and electron concentration of 4.63×10²⁰cm^-3.SnO₂:Sb films were converted from n-type to p-type with the increasing O₂ partial pressure ratio,due to the competition growth of Sb⁺³and Sb⁺⁵. When the oxygen partial pressure ratio ranged from 22%to 36%,reproducible and stable p-type SnO₂:Sb films were successfully prepared.The optimum properties were achieved with the hole concentration as high as 4.53×10¹⁸cm^-3and the resistivity of 11.58Ω·cm.