X-ray spectroscopy study on the electronic structure of Sn-added p-type SnO films

The electronic structure of the Sn-added p-type SnO thin film was examined using x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Sn was intentionally added to a pristine SnO film, and the film was annealed to form p-type SnO. Sn L₁- and L₃-edge XAS was used to examine the oxidation states of the Sn-added p-type SnO. Compared to the case of the reference SnO, the spectrum of the Sn-added SnO (after annealing) partly contained the lineshape for SnO₂, suggesting that the oxidation of Sn  +  SnO was progressed such that the film became preferably SnO₂  +  SnO rather than Sn  +  SnO₂. O K-edge XAS, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) were also used to scrutinize the electronic structure. The direct bandgap of the annealed film was estimated to be ~3.6 eV, consistent with the reported SnO₂ bandgap, while that of the as-deposited Sn-added SnO was  <2.5 eV. The large bandgap after annealing suggests that the metallic Sn was no longer in existence and manifested the functionality of the annealed Sn  +  SnO as a p-type semiconductor.