Impact of Sb/Ag co-doping on SnO2's optical, transport, and crystallographic properties for optoelectronic devices

Over the years, scientists were consistently searching for novel oxide materials that can be employed in optoelectronic and spintronic devices. In this work, we have explored the structural, optical and transport features of Sn0.94Ag0.06-ySbyO2 (0 & LE; y & LE; 0.06) compounds for their potential use in optoelectronics devices. The measurement and analyses of the X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed that these samples are crystallised in a single phase of tetragonal rutile structure, though the changes in the lattice parameters were observed to be nominal. Raman spectroscopy analysis of these samples has further supported the formation of tetragonal rutile phase of SnO2 and successful incorporation of Ag/Sb ions in SnO2. According to the SEM microstructural study, the sample morphology is homogeneous, and the average grain size falls somewhere in the 50-60 nm range. The elemental color mapping that is performed by energy dispersive spectroscopy reveals that all the elements are distributed consistently across the prepared samples. According to XPS analysis, Sn resided in the multiple valence states, whereas Sb and Ag was in +3 and +1 state respectively. The optical properties measurements such as absorbance and transmittance using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer reveal the optical band gap narrowing while enhancing the Sb/Ag co-doping concentrations. Further, it was observed that the increase in the amount of Sb co-doping concentration causes a rise in the transmittance value from 86 to 88%. According to the Hall effect investigation, all Ag/Sb co-doped SnO2 samples exhibits p-type behaviour, and overall carrier concentrations was found to decrease with increases of co-doping percentage.