Paper Title
Improvement of Tin Oxide Structural Properties under Annealing Treatment

Abstract
Tin oxide thin films were deposited by spray pyrolysis technique on glass substrate at Td=350°C during 30 min using SnCl2-2H2O precursor. The surface structural characteristics and morphological properties have been studied by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). From XRD patterns, we can seethe presence of SnO and SnO2 peaks for the as-deposited film, while after heat treatment (Ta=450°C, 1h) the structure changed to formpure SnO2phase. SEM revealed for the as-deposited film a polycrystalline surface with sand rose shape agglomerates formed by sheets estimated between 0.2 µm - 1.5 µm. After annealing, the film surface changed to form round agglomerates with a size varying from 0.5 µm to 2.5 µm. EDX analysis confirmed the formation of SnO and SnO2 for the as-deposited film and the annealed one respectively. Root Mean Squared high (RMS) obtained from AFM decreased from 422 nm to 256 nm after annealing. Consequently, allresults are well correlated and confirm the improvement of the structure and morphology of deposited tin oxide films afterheat treatment. Keywords - Tin oxide thin films,Spray pyrolysis,Annealing, XRD, SEM, EDX, AFM.