SnO2 doped with La, Ce, Sm, Zn, Ca, Al and Sb was prepared by sol-gel technique and characterized by TEM, BET, XPS and XAES. The effect of the dopants on the grain sizes of SnO2 was described and especially the effect of dopants on the distribution of the electronic state density (DESD) of Sn4d orbital was studied deeply by using X-ray-induced Auger electron spectros-copy (XAES). It was observed that the dopants could influence not only the grain sizes of SnO2 but also electronic structure of SnO2, as well as the stability of the doped SnO2 samples. The experiment results indicated that the structure and stability of SnO2 film could be improved by the chemical modification of the dopants. SnO2 doped with La, Ce, Sm, Zn, Ca, Al and Sb was prepared by sol-gel technique and characterized by TEM, BET, XPS and XAES. The effect of the dopants on the grain sizes of SnO2 was described and especially the effect of dopants on the distribution of the electronic state density (DESD) of Sn4d orbital was studied deeply by using X-ray-induced Auger electron spectros-copy (XAES). It was observed that the dopants could influence not only the grain sizes of SnO2 but also electronic structure of SnO2, as well as the stability of the doped SnO2 samples. The experiment results indicated that the structure and stability of SnO2 film could be improved by the chemical modification of the dopants.