Annealing induced anomalous electrical transport behavior in SnO2 thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition.

SnO₂ thin films were deposited on quartz substrates by pulsed laser deposition and postannealed at different temperatures in oxygen ambience. X-ray diffraction, Hall measurement, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to investigate the properties of the annealed SnO₂ thin films. An anomalous electrical transport behavior as a function of the annealing temperature was observed. Both the growth of the crystal grain and oxygen vacancy density variation in the annealing process have been identified to be responsible for the transition of electrical transport properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]