Structural and morphological characterization of sol-gel ZnO:Ga films: Effect of annealing temperatures

Gallium-doped zinc oxide; Microstructure; Morphology; Optical properties; Sol-gel; Thin films; Atomic force microscopy; Energy gap; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; Gallium; Oxide films; Semiconductor doping; Sol-gel process; Sol-gels; Surface roughness; Vibration analysis; X ray diffraction; Zinc; Zinc oxide; Annealing temperatures; Effect of annealing; Gallium doped zinc oxides; Morphological characterization; Spin-coating method; Structural and optical properties; Vibrational properties; Visible spectral range; Optical films

Abstract :

[en] Sol-gel technology has been successfully applied for obtaining ZnO:Ga films by spin coating method. Their structural and optical properties are studied depending on the doping contents and on the annealing temperatures varying from 300 to 600 °C. The Ga doping has been achieved by dissolving 1, 2 and 3 wt% Ga(NO3) into Zn sol solution. The structural analysis performed by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) shows a deterioration of the film crystallization with gallium incorporation. The XRD study reveals no impurity peaks associated to metallic gallium or gallium oxide phases. Vibrational properties have been characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. FTIR analysis gives no certain evidence for presence of Ga oxide phases, but the absorption bands are clearly affected by Ga additive and there can be possible overlapping of Zn–O and Ga–O vibrations. The sol-gel ZnO:Ga films possess higher transparency in the visible spectral range compared to zinc oxide films. The optical band gaps of ZnO:Ga films are found to be widening due to gallium doping. The film morphology is investigated by Atomic force microscopy and it has been found that Ga doping in ZnO affects significantly the film morphology. The surface roughness of ZnO:Ga films is smaller compared to ZnO. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

Disciplines :

Chemistry

Author, co-author :

Ivanova, T.; Central Laboratory of Solar Energy and New Energy Sources, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Tzarigradsko chaussee 72, Sofia, Bulgaria

Harizanova, A.; Central Laboratory of Solar Energy and New Energy Sources, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Tzarigradsko chaussee 72, Sofia, Bulgaria

Koutzarova, T.; Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Tzarigradsko Chaussee 72, Sofia, Bulgaria

Vertruyen, Bénédicte ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de chimie (sciences) > Chimie inorganique structurale

Stefanov, B.; Department of Engineering Sciences, The Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 534, Uppsala, Sweden

Language :

English

Title :

Structural and morphological characterization of sol-gel ZnO:Ga films: Effect of annealing temperatures

Publication date :

2018

Journal title :

Thin Solid Films

ISSN :

0040-6090

Publisher :

Elsevier B.V.

Volume :

646

Pages :

132-142

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 21 June 2018

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