Spray pyrolyzed Al-doped SnO2 films with desirable type inversion and physical properties for use in transparent thin-film heater

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2024-02, Vol.35 (4), p.275, Article 275
• Main Authors: Mawarnis, E. R., Roza, L., Fauzia, V., Khaira, K., Rahman, M. Y. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Dopants; Light transmittance; Materials Science; Optical and Electronic Materials; Physical properties; Spray pyrolysis; Thin films; Tin dioxide
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-024-12030-8

Thin layers of pristine SnO 2 and Al-doped SnO 2 have been synthesized directly on glass via easy ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique. Different amounts of Al were employed as dopant to study its impact on the sample’s characteristics. The samples were then applied as transparent thin-film heater. It was found that the visible light transmittance of the sample is better at lower Al concentrations (0, 3, 5, 7 and 10 wt%). The presence of aluminum in the sample causes a blue shift that gets stronger as the amount of aluminum increases. This rise may be attributable to the fact that holes created by Al doping, which were previously n-type carriers, now act as a counterbalance. By adjusting the Al dopant, allowed us to produce a film with a resistivity of 3.54 × 10 –4 Ω cm, a transmittance of 87% at 550 nm, and a merit figure up to 54.5 × 10 –3 Ω −1 . It is pointed out that Al-doped SnO 2 could be used transparent heaters because the surface temperature of the sample went up to 76.7 °C when a 20 V voltage was applied for 300 s.