Spin - Coating of SnO2 thin films

Abstract

The functional characteristics of thin film planar solar cells are very sensitive to the presence of pores, voids or holes. Thus deposition of compact, dense and uniform layers is essential in that technology. These issues are especially important in organometalic perovskite solar cells where the active layers are in the nano metric scale. In this emerging technology the reduction of cost-efficiency ratio is a serious barrier for commercialization. In this work we have investigated different parameters of the process of deposition of SnO2 thin films by spin coatings which influence its compactness and impenetrability. Influences of the thermal treatments on the properties of the films were investigated by UV - vis spectrometry, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy AFM), X-Ray Photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) and Spectral Elipsometry (SE). Finally the coverage ability of the SnO2 films was checked by Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) in aqueous redox solution.