Characterization Study of Neodymium Doped Tin Oxide Films for Optoelectronic Applications

Abstract

Tin chloride of 1M concentration was used as the precursor, and neodymium chloride was used as a dopant (with different doping ratios) to create pure and neodymium (Nd) doped tin oxide (SnO2) thin films with varied doping ratios (1, 3 and 5) wt%. Using UV-visible absorbance and XRD patterns, it was possible to analyze the impact of Nd doping ratio on the optical and structural characteristics of the produced thin films. All samples have a polycrystalline structure that is identical to the conventional SnO2 peaks, according to XRD measurements. As the doping ratio rises, the crystallinity falls. At doping ratio of 5wt%, a new phase emerged for Nd2O3. According to optical characteristics, the transmittance rises with doping ratio, from 4.13% to 35.76% at 550 nm. The optical band gap increases from 3.60 to 4.20eV with an increase in Nd content from 0 to 5%, and the energy gap was a direct transition. I-V properties for all samples are examined in dark and light conditions. Photocurrent and dark current increases with increasing doping ratio. The produced films have shown increase in photoconductivity gain.