Effect Of Al Doping On The Structural And Optical Properties Of Sno2 Thin Films Elaborated By Sol-gel Technique

In this study, the influence of increasing of the Al concentration on the structural and optical properties of SnO2 thin films were investigated. Pure and aluminum-doped SnO2 thin films were prepared by sol–gel deposition method on glass and Si (100) substrates at room temperature and then annealed at 550°C in air. The obtained films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and UV–Vis spectrophotometry techniques. A single-phase rutile polycrystalline structure is revealed by XRD. The AFM analysis show that the surface morphology changes with Al concentration. The un-doped and Al-doped SnO2 thin films are transparent (86% optical transmittance) in the near UV-Vis, and the optical band gap is influenced by Al doping level.