Synthesis and Characterization of Grape-Like SnO₂ Structures Grown by a Thermal Evaporation Method

Abstract

Grape-like tin dioxide (SnO2) structures have been grown onp-type silicon (Si(100)) substrate synthesized by thermal evaporation of tin (Sn) without use of metal catalyst. The experiment were conducted in a three-zone tube furnace at a constant temperature of 1080°C,under 1.6% of oxygen (O2) gas in an atmospheric ambient with a controlled flow rate of 1.0L/min. The prepared SnO2film was characterized by using X-ray diffraction diffractometer (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX) and photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The grape-like SnO2structures were highly crystalline with particle size (resemble grape fruit) ranging from 120-550 nm and diameter of wire (resemble grape stem) around 120-160 nm.The PL spectrum of the grape-like SnO2structures exhibits a broad visible light emission with a peak centered at around 623 nm, corresponding to 1.99 eV and usual near band edge emission of SnO2is not observed.