Influence of Oxygen Partial Pressure on the Properties of Nanocrystalline Magnetron Sputtered Sno2 Thin Films

Nanocrystalline tin oxide (SnO₂) thin films were deposited on glass substrates under various oxygen partial pressures from 3x10^-4 to 7x10^-4 mbar by using dc reactive magnetron sputtering. From the X-ray diffraction results the films exhibited tetragonal structure of SnO₂ phase and (110) was the preferred orientation. The grain size of the films increased from 7 nm to 16 nm with increasing the oxygen partial pressures. From the morphological studies, it was observed that the RMS roughness of the films decreased with increasing of the oxygen partial pressures. The optical properties of the films were sensitively influenced by oxygen partial pressure. The films showed optical transmittance of 91% in the visible range at oxygen partial pressure of 7x10^-4 mbar.