Probing the highly transparent and conducting SnOx/Au/SnOx structure for futuristic TCO applications

V. Sharma; R. Vyas; P. Bazylewski; G. S. Chang; K. Asokan; K. Sachdev

doi:10.1039/C5RA24422F

Probing the highly transparent and conducting SnO_x/Au/SnO_x structure for futuristic TCO applications†

V. Sharma,*^a R. Vyas,

^b P. Bazylewski,^c G. S. Chang,^d K. Asokan^e and K. Sachdev^af

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Physics, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur-302017, India
E-mail: phyvikas@gmail.com

^b Department of Physics, School of Basic Sciences, Jaipur National University, Jaipur-302017, India

^c Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Western, London-N6A 3K7, Ontario, Canada

^d Department of Physics & Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon-S7N 5E2, Canada

^e Materials Science Division, Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi-110067, India

^f Materials Research Centre, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur-302017, India
E-mail: ksachdev.phy@mnit.ac.in

Abstract

A SnO_x/Au/SnO_x transparent conductive oxide (TCO) multilayered film was fabricated with a total thickness of 75 nm using both e-beam and thermal evaporation techniques. X-ray diffraction confirms the amorphous nature of SnO_x with a crystalline peak attributed to the presence of diffraction from the Au (111) plane. The morphological studies using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a smooth top layer of the sandwich structure. A Rutherford backscattering spectrum has been used to probe the thickness of individual TCO layers, and reveals an oxygen deficient structure in the SnO_x layer. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) measurements confirm the formation an SnO-rich phase and the presence of oxygen vacancies. The specimen exhibited resistivity and sheet resistance of 3.9 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm and 52 Ω sq.⁻¹, respectively, with an optical transparency of 83% beyond 475 nm. The superior parameters exhibited by this stacked multilayer are due to relatively lower oxygen concentration in the tin oxide layer, and it is therefore proposed as a necessary ingredient to increase the overall conductivity in metal oxide multilayer thin films.

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA24422F
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 18 Nov 2015
Accepted: 11 Mar 2016
First published: 14 Mar 2016

Download Citation

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 29135-29141

Author version available

Download author version (PDF)

Permissions

Request permissions

Probing the highly transparent and conducting SnO_x/Au/SnO_x structure for futuristic TCO applications

V. Sharma, R. Vyas, P. Bazylewski, G. S. Chang, K. Asokan and K. Sachdev, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 29135 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA24422F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

RSC Advances