The Effect of Molybdenum an‎d Fluorine Additives on the Morphology an‎d Optical Properties of Conductive Tin Oxide Coatings

10/19/2026 12:00:00 AM

In the present study, the main purpose was the fabrication an‎d characterization of pure tin oxide (SnO₂) an‎d fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) thin films using the spray pyrolysis technique, which is one of the well-known methods for producing transparent conducting oxides (TCOs). For film deposition, Tin chloride pentahydrate (SnCl₄·5H₂O) was employed as the tin precursor, while ammonium fluoride (NH₄F) was used as the flurine precursor with F/Sn molar ratios of 10, 20, an‎d 30%. In addition, for the preparation of FTO films, molybdenum an‎d cobalt were incorporated as cationic dopants through suitable precursor compounds in the concentration ranges of 0.5–4 mol% (Co) an‎d 0.5–2 mol% (Mo). The effects of these dopants on the structural, optical, an‎d electrical properties of the films were investigated. The substrate temperature during deposition was maintained at 500 °C to eva‎luate the influence of these parameters. Structural, morphological, optical, an‎d electrical characterizations were performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), UV–Visible spectrophotometry, an‎d a four-point probe method. Furthermore, the figure of merit was calculated for all samples. The deposited films were dense an‎d uniform with an average thickness of approximately 500 nm. Depending on the dopant concentrations an‎d deposition temperature, variations in optical transmittance an‎d electrical resistivity were observed. The highest optical transmittance in the visible region (≈ 83.5%) was obtained for the RC1M sample (10 mol% F, 1 mol% Co, an‎d 0.5 mol% Mo), whereas the lowest sheet resistance (2.09 Ω/□) was achieved for the RC2M1 sample (10 mol% F, 2 mol% Co, an‎d 1 mol% Mo) deposited at 500 °C. This sample exhibited high electrical conductivity an‎d acceptable optical transparency (~78.9%), making it a promising can‎didate for optoelectronic applications such as various types of solar cells.

اسپري پيروليز , فيلم شفاف هادي جريان , اكسيد قلع

Spray pyrolysis , transparent conductive oxide

sahand kamangar

dr. mohammad mizkazemi