SPIN COATED TANTALUM-TIN OXIDE THIN FILM PREPARED USING TANTALUM-TIN ACETYLACETONATE AS PRECURSOR

Abstract

A single source precursor, tantalum tin acetylacetonate was prepared and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Tantalum tin oxide thin film was deposited on ITO coated glass substrate through spin coating of the single source precursor solution and annealed at a temperature of 420 o C.The deposited film was characterized using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), optical absorption spectroscopy, and four point probe technique. RBS analysis showed that the film have a stoichiometry of Ta0.2Sn0.8O2 and thickness of 8.225 nm. SEM micrograph of the film revealed closely packed grains which are well distributed over the entire substrate while the XRD indicated strong reflections from planes that correspond to both tetragonal rutile SnO2 and Ta2O5 structures. The absorption behavior of the deposited thin film was relatively stable under different temperature with direct optical band gap between 3.44 and 3.54 eV. The resistivity was found to be of the order of 10-4 Ω-cm.

Keywords

• precursor
• tantalum tin acetylacetonate
• tantalum tin oxide
• thin film
• Spin coating
• characterization