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Iron-doped SnO2 coatings were deposited in a 50 kHz DC-pulsed magnetron sputtering discharge. The pulses had a duration of 4 µs in selected gas mixtures from pure argon up to
60% of oxygen at a constant total pressure of 0.2 Pa. A single target of SnO2 with Fe inset was used. The mass spectrometry study detected the gas-related ions Ar+, O2+ and O+, where the last one becomes the dominant positive ion at higher oxygen contents. Atomic oxygen ions had a higher energy as it resulted from the collision-caused dissociation on the target surface. The tin-related species were detected as Sn+ and SnO+. SnO2+ species were not detected. The deposition rate decreased by using gas mixtures with oxygen as well as the corresponding amount of Sn-related species in the plasma. The increase of oxygen also increased significantly the sheet resistance of the films. The XPS study showed that the iron concentration decreased by using additional oxygen. But the O/Sn ratio in the coatings was constant, contrary to the increased FeO/Fe ratio in the films. An additional analysis of the coatings by spectroscopic ellipsometry has shown a dependence of the polarizability and the permittivity on the amount of oxygen used during the deposition. In contrast, the study has found no such dependence for the absorption of the layers.
Coatings deposited by magnetron co-sputtering from a single RF magnetron with a ceramic SnO2 target with iron inset in argon plasma were studied. The mass spectra of the process identified Sn+ and SnO+ species as the dominant species sputtered from the target, but no SnO2+ species were detected. The dominant positive ions in argon plasma are Ar+ species. The only detected negative ions were O-. Sputtered neutral tin related species were not detected. Iron related species were also not detected because their concentration is below the detection limit.
The concentration of iron dopant in the tin oxide coatings was controlled by the RF bias applied on the substrate holder while the discharge pressure also has some influence. The iron concentration was in the range from 0.9 at.% up to 19 at.% increasing with the substrate bias while the sheet resistivity decreases. The stoichiometry ratio of O/(Sn + Fe) in the coatings increased from 1.7 up to 2 in dependence on the substrate bias from floating bias (- 5 V) up to - 120 V of RF self-bias, respectively. The tin in the coatings was mainly bonded in Sn4 + state and iron was mainly in Fe2 + state when other tin bonding states were detected only in a small amounts. Iron bonding states in contrary to elemental compositions of the coatings were not influenced by the RF bias applied on the substrate.
The coatings showed high transparency in the visible spectral range. However, an increased metallic behavior could be detected by using a higher RF bias for the deposition. The X-ray diffraction patterns and electron microscopy pictures made on the coatings confirmed the presence of an amorphous phase.