Microemulsion synthesis of SnO2 nanoparticles and their integration in Au/n-Si/Al device structure

This study reports the synthesis of tin (IV) oxide (SnO₂) nanoparticles (NPs) using the micro-emulsion method and its performance on n-type Si semiconductors under various operating conditions. The physical characteristics of SnO₂ were examined using XRD, SEM, TEM, and UV–Vis analysis. XRD analysis revealed that SnO₂ has a crystalline structure with an average crystallite size of 14.4 nm. The optical band gap energy of SnO₂ was determined as 3.4 eV using UV–Vis analysis. Additionally, the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the Au/SnO₂/n-Si/Al and Au/n-Si/Al devices were measured in darkness to explore the influence of SnO₂ nanomaterial on their electrical parameters. From the I–V measurements, the rectification ratio, saturation current, ideality factor, and barrier height values for the SnO₂/n-Si device were determined to be 4.35 × 10⁴ (at ± 2 V), 1.96 × 10^–9 A, 1.57, and 0.81 eV, respectively. For electro-optical characteristics of the SnO₂/n-Si device, the I–V measurements were conducted under both visible light and UV light (365 nm) conditions. The SnO₂/n-Si device, featuring a self-powered property, exhibited superior ON/OFF ratio, responsivity, and detectivity under UV light compared to white light illumination. Therefore, we can assert that the SnO₂/n-Si device holds significant promise for sensitive light detection applications, particularly in UV-sensitive optoelectronic devices.