Structural, linear/non-linear optical, optoelectrical, and electrical properties of novel crystalline antimony-doped tin oxide thin films synthesized by the chemical deposition method

Antimony-doped tin oxide thin films (Sb-doped Sn–O) have been synthesized via the chemical bath deposition (CBD) procedure and annealed at 450 °C for different annealing times of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 h. The morphological, linear/non-linear optical, dispersion, optoelectrical, and electrical properties were examined and discussed. The energy band gap (Eg) values fell in the range of 2.70–2.83 eV for annealing times of 1–3 h and decreased to 2.78 and 2.15 eV for annealing times of 4–5 h, respectively. Optical and optoelectronic properties were directly derived from the results of transmittance and reflectance. The theoretical Wemple-DiDomenico single oscillator model was employed to calculate various dispersion parameters of the Sb-doped Sn3O4 films. Furthermore, the non-linear optical properties were calculated via simple semi-empirical relations. Meanwhile, inter-band transition strength, optical surface resistance, and thermal emissivity were also obtained for optical/optoelectronic systems, non-linear optical devices. •Different properties of Sb-doped Sn3O4 thin films affected from various annealing times.•Understanding of the inherent thin films was investigated by the effect of annealing times.•The lowest Eg of 2.15 eV was obtained for the film annealed for 5 h.•The optimum Sb-doped Sn3O4 thin films can be utilized as linear/non-linear optical devices.