SnO2 thin films from an aqueous citrato peroxo Sn(IV) precursor

Abstract

In this work, tin(II) oxalate was studied as a novel chloride-free starting material for the preparation of a stable Sn-containing precursor solution. This precursor was applied for the chemical solution deposition (CSD) of transparent conducting coatings of SnO2 on Si/SiO2 substrates. An influence of synthesis parameters, such as pH, complexing agent to metal ion ratio on the stability of the citrato peroxo Sn(IV) precursor has been investigated in this study. Insights into the precursor chemistry and its thermal decomposition based on TG-DSC analysis are also presented. The obtained SnO2 films were characterized by high temperature X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to evaluate phase purity and film thickness, respectively.