Abstract
Polycrystalline tin oxide thin films are used for applications such as transparent conductors,
semiconductors, and solar cells. This present study articulates the fabrication of polycrystalline
Tin Oxide (SnO2) thin films from Tetrakis(dimethylamino)tin (IV) (TDMASn) precursor using a
symmetric triblock copolymer in a modified sol-gel method and deposited via the spin-coating
process. The effect of temperature variation on the fabricated thin films was also investigated. The
Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) was employed to investigate band-edge emission and
defect-related states in the prepared SnO₂ thin films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization
showed the structure of the fabricated thin films to be SnO2, while scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis revealed the surface
morphology and elemental composition of the prepared thin films. Fourier transform infrared
spectroscopy (FTIR) disclosed the distinct chemical bonds associated with the deposited SnO2
film, whereas a four-point probe was exploited to map its conductance. The optical bandgap
decreased from 3.56 eV to 3.23 eV as the annealing temperature increased from 250 °C to 550 °C,
accompanied by improved crystallinity and enhanced electrical conductivity, suggesting that polycrystalline SnO2 thin films can be obtained above 250 oC