Optical and Electrical Properties of Large Area SnO2: F Thin Films by Spray Pyrolysis

SnO(2):F transparent conductive thin films with the area of 500x500mm(2) were deposited on glass substrates by spray pyrolysis using SnCl(4)center dot 5H(2)O and HF as the starting material and dopant respectively in methanol. The effects of HF concentration on the crystallized status, microstructures, transmittance, conductivity and low emissivity performances of the films have been studied. The results indicated that when HF content was excessive the solution presented strong acidity and it was difficult to obtain the uniform and dense films. However, when HF content was less, the conductivity of the film was poor. In this paper, The optimal mount of dopant HF was investigated and the molar ratio of Sn to F is 1:0.5. And also the uniform and dense SnO(2):F transparent conductive oxide thin films can be obtained, whose resistivity reached 6.36x10(-4)Omega.cm, and the average transmittance in visible region was 80%. The low emissivity of this film was 0.25, which could be used as the Low-E glass.