Optical and structural characterisation of zinc oxide thin films prepared by sol-gel process

Abstract

Zinc oxide thin films have been prepared on different substrates by the sol-gel method using 2-methoxyethanol solution of zinc acetate dihydrate stabilized by monoethanolamine. The photoluminescence spectra of the films show the band-edge and sub-band transitions. The intensity of the band edge emission peak increases, while the intensity of the deep level emission peak decreases in the films coated on sapphire substrate. Transmittance spectra show that the films are transparent beyond 400 nm. The structural property of the films has been evaluated using X-ray diffraction. The X-ray peak intensity of the film (002) grown on sapphire substrate is higher than the films grown on glass and quartz substrates. The AFM images show improvement in the surface of the annealed films as compared to the as-grown ZnO films coated on sapphire substrates.

Effect of Mn doping on the structural and optical properties of sol-gel derived ZnO nanoparticles

“…Recently, Mn-doped ZnO materials have attracted much attention because of their excellent ferromagnetic properties [18] and unique UV-luminescent properties based on radiative recombination of the electron-hole pairs [19,20]. Doping Mn into ZnO offers an interesting way to alter various properties [21,22], for example the band gap of host material can be tuned from 3.37 eV to 3.70 eV. Also it alters the emission properties by providing an efficient channel for the recombination of electron and hole via the do-pant Mn d levels.…”

Dry Etching Characteristics of Zinc Oxide Thin Films in Cl2-Based Plasma

“…The experiments showed that the FWHM values of the etched ZnO films are higher than those of the as-deposited films. In this case, a high FWHM value means that the crystalline structure was incomplete [8][9][10][11][12]. These results indicate that ion bombardment during etching damaged the crystalline structure of the ZnO thin film surface.…”

Structural and Optical Properties of Mn-Doped ZnO Thin Films Prepared by SILAR Method

“…The ZnO thin films can be prepared by a variety of methods such as chemical vapour deposition (CVD), RF magnetron sputtering [11], DC reactive magnetron sputtering [12], metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) [13], pulsed laser deposition [14], sol−gel process [15], chemical bath deposition, etc. Of these methods, SILAR technique has several advantages over the others such as low cost, safety and easy handling.…”