Structural, electrical, and optical properties of rare-earth Sm3+ doped SnO2 transparent conducting oxide thin films for optoelectronic device applications: Synthesized by the spin coating method

Various concentrations of Sm (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 at%) doped SnO2 thin films were synthesized by the sol-gel spin coating method and investigated the structural, optical, and electrical properties. According to X-ray diffraction studies, all deposited films exhibited the polycrystalline rutile tetragonal structure. The average crystallite size decreased with Sm doping concentration in SnO2, while the dislocation density and lattice strain values were increased. Both XPS and Raman spectra confirm that Sm3+ enters the host SnO2. The higher average optical transmittance is above 86% in pure SnO2, while Sm: SnO2 films exhibit a decreasing trend with the increase of Sm doping concentration and reached up to 77% in 5 at% Sm: SnO2 film. The optical bandgap energy increased with the increase of Sm doping concentration up to 3 at % Sm: SnO2 film (4.23 eV) which is attributed to the Moss-Burstein (MB) effect and then slightly decreased for 4 at% and 5 at% Sm: SnO2 films. Further, the room temperature sheet resistance and resistivity values were found to decrease with the increase of Sm doping concentration up to 3 at % Sm: SnO2 film then it slightly increased in 4 and 5 at% Sm: SnO2 films. Additionally, the efficiency parameter figure of merit (f) for all the deposited films was calculated.