Role of substrate temperature on the growth mechanism and physical properties of spray deposited lead oxide thin films

Thin films of lead oxide were synthesized by cost effective spray pyrolysis technique at different substrate temperatures on glass substrates. Effect of substrate temperature on the growth mechanism and physical properties of the films was investigated. All the films were polycrystalline in nature with tetragonal structure corresponding to α-PbO. The films coated at 225 °C and 275 °C were (1 0 1) oriented, while the films deposited at 325 °C and 375 °C were (0 0 2) oriented. Above 375 °C, the pure tetragonal nature deteriorated and the peaks corresponding to orthorhombic phase were observed. The band gap value was found to be in the range of 2.3 to 2.62 eV. All the films had a resistivity of the order of 103 ohm-cm. A minimum resistivity of 0.0191 × 103 ohm-cm was obtained for the film coated at 325 °C. The activation energy increased with increase in substrate temperature.