Abstract:
Pure zinc oxide and Sn-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on a pre-heated glass substrate from
tin (II) chloride dihydrate (SnCl2.2H2O) and zinc acetate (Zn(CH3COO))2 precursors using spray
pyrolysis technique. The doped films were achieved by adding various quantities of (SnCl2. 2H2O)
precursor to the solution of zinc acetate in volume percent range of 0–10. Rutherford Backscat
tering Spectrometry (RBS) was used to characterise the prepared films to determine their thick
ness and elemental composition. To examine the films’ optical characteristics, a UV spectrometer
operating at room temperature and covering a wavelength range of 300–1100 nm was employed.
The film’s thickness and composition show that as the volume of Sn in the thin films increases, so
does the film’s thickness. With average transmittance values up to 70 %, all the films are quite
transparent in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum and have a significant UV cut-off
at roughly 380 nm. The reflectivity of Sn-doped ZnO films is seen to be independent of the volume
of Sn in the films, and the reflectivity of the films diminishes as the wavelength increases. Sn-
doped ZnO thin film has an optical band gap of 3.14–3.18 eV. The properties of the thin film
produced make it suitable for solar energy collection and improve the efficiency of solar energy
system, various optoelectronics devices and sensor.
