Anionic Fluorine and Cationic Niobium Codoped Tin Oxide Thin Films as Transparent Conducting Electrodes for Optoelectronic Applications

Reddivari Muniramaiah, Nandarapu Purushotham Reddy, Rompivalasa Santhosh, Gouranga Maharana, Jean Maria Fernandes, Dilli Padmanaban, Manavalan Kovendhan, Ganapathy Veerappan, Gangalakurti Laxminarayana, Murali Banavoth, D. Paul Joseph

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
17 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Exploration of alternatives for supplementing indium tin oxide electrode is currently trending due to scarcity of indium, leading to a steep increase in the cost of related optoelectronic components. Codoping of niobium (Nb) and fluorine (F) into SnO2 lattice as cationic and anionic dopants, respectively, is explored by spray deposition technique. A fixed 10 wt% F and varying Nb concentration from 0 to 5 wt% is incorporated into the SnO2 lattice. X-ray diffraction reveals substitution of Nb and F into the SnO2 lattice without altering the structure. Optical transmittance is found to increase with Nb content up to 4% of Nb (77.59%), and it decreases thereafter. Scanning electron microscope and optical profiler imply a relatively smooth surface with sharp-tipped particles which vary with Nb concentration. Sheet resistance decreases up to 3 wt% of Nb doping and increases thereafter. Contact angle measurement indicates that upon doping with Nb, the films turn hydrophilic. Among the deposited films, 4 wt% of Nb-doped film shows the highest figure of merit of 5.01 × 10−3 Ω−1. The surface work function of the 4 wt% Nb-doped SnO2 film is 4,687.85 meV. The optimal films are tested as electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells and are discussed in detail.
Original languageEnglish
Article number2200703
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalPhysica Status Solidi (A) Applications and Materials Science
Volume220
Issue number14
Early online date20 May 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished online - 20 May 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The RSG‐2014 funding from NITW for procuring the custom‐made spray pyrolysis unit is acknowledged. The author R.M. thanks Mr. Vishesh Manjunath, Dept. of Metallurgy Engineering and Materials Science, IIT Indore, for his support. The author R.S. thanks the School of Chemistry, Univ. of Hyderabad, for device fabrication facilities, and also the CSIR (Award No: 09/414(1185)/2019‐EMR‐I) for funding. The authors thank Prof. Davide Mariotti, Ulster Univ. UK for KP measurements with assistance from EPSRC award EP/R008841/1.

Funding Information:
The RSG-2014 funding from NITW for procuring the custom-made spray pyrolysis unit is acknowledged. The author R.M. thanks Mr. Vishesh Manjunath, Dept. of Metallurgy Engineering and Materials Science, IIT Indore, for his support. The author R.S. thanks the School of Chemistry, Univ. of Hyderabad, for device fabrication facilities, and also the CSIR (Award No: 09/414(1185)/2019-EMR-I) for funding. The authors thank Prof. Davide Mariotti, Ulster Univ. UK for KP measurements with assistance from EPSRC award EP/R008841/1.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Keywords

  • codoping
  • dye-sensitized solar cell.
  • fluorine
  • niobium
  • spray pyrolysis
  • tin oxide
  • transparent conducting oxide electrode

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