Structural, Morphological, Optical, and Electrical Properties of Sol–Gel Derived Sb‐Doped ZnO Thin Films Annealed Under Different Atmospheres

Abstract

Herein, undoped and antimony (Sb)‐doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films are prepared by a sol–gel spin‐coating method. The influence of different annealing atmospheres including nitrogen and argon on pertinent properties of the prepared films is scrutinized. Structural, optical, morphological, and electrical properties of all annealed films are investigated by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, and current–voltage measurement. The XRD results exhibit that the films possess ZnO hexagonal wurtzite without impurity. The deterioration in the crystallinity of the film is highly influenced by Sb dopant and annealing atmosphere exhibiting the decrease in nanoparticle size after annealing in nitrogen, argon atmosphere, and upon doping. XPS results confirm that Sb3+ is well incorporated in ZnO lattice and the shift of XPS spectra in the films annealed in nitrogen atmosphere indicates nitrogen bonding with zinc. The PL spectra exhibit blueshift of near band edge emission due to the Sb dopant substituting in Zn site in ZnO lattice and red‐infrared emission induced by Sb dopant. The decrease in electrical resistance of ZnO film can be obtained by Sb doping and annealing in nitrogen atmosphere.

Photocatalytic water splitting ability of Fe/MgO-rGO nanocomposites towards hydrogen evolution

“…2(c) and (d)). This decreasing trend of peak broadening indicates the increase in particle size, suggesting agglomeration at a higher temperature [60,61].…”

Optical and electrical properties of Sb-doped β-Ga2O3 crystals grown by OFZ method

“…It has been reported that the element Sb is often used as an effective dopant to improve the conductivity of semiconductor crystals [27,28] . The Sb 5 ion not only has a similar radius (Sb 5 radius is 0.60 Å, and the six-coordination radius of Ga 3 is 0.62 Å), but also has more valence electrons than Ga 3 [29] .…”

Effects of Thallium–Aluminum‐Codoped Zinc Oxide Thin Film as a New Transparent Conducting Oxide

“…Zinc oxide (ZnO) as an n-type semiconductor with a direct wide bandgap of 3.37 eV can be a suitable candidate for replacing ITO because of its nontoxicity, high electron mobility, large exciton binding energy of 60 meV, physical, chemical, and thermal stability, natural abundance, as well as its high optical transparency in visible and near-infrared regions. [7][8][9][10][11] However, due to stoichiometric nature as well as low free charge carrier concentration in undoped ZnO, it does not show a desired electrical resistance. To increase the carrier concentration of ZnO, dopants such as elements of group III (Al, Ga, In) as charge donors have been widely used, resulting in improving the electrical conductivity.…”