Study of optical characteristics of tin oxide thin film prepared by sol–gel method

In this paper, we present details of preparation of tin oxide (SnO\(_{{2}})\) thin film by sol–gel process. The film was synthesized on a glass (Corning 7059) plate by dip coating method. Here, we used tin (II) chloride as precursor and methanol as solvent. Optical characteristics and physical properties like refractive index, absorption coefficient and thickness of thin film were calculated from the study of transmission spectrum (wavelength vs transmission curve) data given by UV/VIS Spectrophotometer. Effect of number of coatings on transmittance and refractive index was also examined. It was observed that refractive index decreases with the number of coating and transmission value was more than 80% at wavelength greater than 450 nm in all cases. Structural analysis was studied by XRD measurement by using diffractometer which confirms tetragonal rutile structure of SnO 2 . Surface morphology was analysed from SEM micrograph and change in morphology on number of coat was discussed.