A simple method to deposit palladium doped SnO2 thin films using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique

This work presents a simple method to deposit palladium doped tin oxide (SnO2) thin films using modified plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition as a function of deposition temperature at a radio frequency plasma power of 150 W. Stannic chloride (SnCl4) was used as precursor and oxygen (O2, 100 SCCM) (SCCM denotes cubic centimeter per minute at STP) as reactant gas. Palladium hexafluroacetyleacetonate (Pd(C5HF6O2)2) was used as a precursor for palladium. Fine granular morphology was observed with tetragonal rutile structure. A peak related to Pd2Sn is observed, whose intensity increases slightly with deposition temperature. Electrical resistivity value decreased from 8.6 to 0.9 mΩ cm as a function of deposition temperature from 400 to 600 deg. C. Photoelectron peaks related to Sn 3d, Sn 3p3, Sn 4d, O 1s, and C 1s were detected with varying intensities as a function of deposition temperature.