Nanostructural and surface morphological evolution of chemically sprayed SnO2 thin films

Physical properties of a nanocrystalline thin film is greatly influenced by its morphological and structural evolution. We try to understand the transition of SnO₂ thin films from amorphous to nanocrystalline structure with XRD, IR, SEM, AFM and surface profiler studies. A 2D layer like structure resulting from quantum confinement is found for the films prepared at 400 °C. We observed a new IR band at 530 cm⁻¹ that was theoretically predicted and report it for the first time. A correlation of population of defects in SnO₂ films with change in lattice parameters and FWHM of IR bands are reported. The electric and optical properties of the films have been discussed.