Properties and stability of bismuth doped tin oxide thin films deposited on various types of glass substrates

This work reports on deposition of transparent semi-insulating tin oxide thin films deposited by spray-pyrolysis over large area glass substrates. The precursors used are based on diluted chloride solutions. Bi-doped high resistivity tin oxide thin films are required in the fabrication process of an analog grey scale ferroelectric liquid crystal matrix display. Various parameters have been optimized in order to achieve good reproducibility and uniformity of the electrical and optical properties. Deposition temperature and the properties of the glass substrates have been found as the most critical variables which affect the deposition rate and the quality of the deposited films. The different substrates used, borosilicates and soda-lime glasses, lead to different electrical properties. A further investigation on the stability of the film properties versus different kind of aging procedures have been conducted. Preliminary results of the operation of the complete display making use of our films are shown.