Preparation and Characterization of High Mobility Nb-Doped SnO2 Transparent Conducting Films

Abstract

Metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was employed for the preparation of niobium (Nb)-doped SnO2 films on SiO2 glass substrates. The structure, optical and electrical properties of the Nb-doped SnO2 films were systemically studied. The X-ray diffraction results indicated that the polycrystalline rutile SnO2 films were obtained with a preferred SnO2 [110] growth direction. Among which, the 5.4 at.% Nb-doped SnO2 film showed the lowest resistivity of 1.0×10-3 Ω∙cm and the highest Hall mobility of 74 cm2∙V-1∙s-1. The average visible light transmittance of the 5.4 at.% Nb-doped SnO2 sample was more than 79%. The obtained Nb-doped SnO2 films exhibited low resistivity, high Hall mobility and good transparency, which might have wide applications in electric and photoelectric devices.