Effect of Zn, Mn, Cu and Fe doping on optical properties of SnOz thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis technique

Abstract

The pure SnO2 thin film and X-doped SnO2 thin films while X is: Zn, Mn, Cu and Fe are synthesized by using spray pyrolysis technique at 450°C and under atmospheric pressure. The optical properties of all samples was investigated by the transmittance curves analyzing in terms of wavelength change in the range [300-1100nm], and it hasshown that pure tin oxide and doped tin oxide with different concentrations of zinc or doped with different transition materials are transparent conducting oxides. We found that the doping process reduced the thickness and increased the band-gap energy (Eg) while reducing the Urbach energy (EU) of tin oxide thin films and is therefore very important for improving its photovoltaic properties.