Fabrication and Characterization of Highly Textured Thin Films of Undoped and Ag-Doped ZnO |
| A. Herzia, M. Sebaisa, B. Boudinea, O. Halimia, B. Rahalb, L. Guerbousb
aCrystallography Laboratory, Physics Department, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Mentouri Brothers-Constantine 1 University, Route Ain El Bey, Constantine 25000, Algeria bNuclear Technical Division, Nuclear Research Center of Algiers, 2 Bd., Frantz Fanon, BP 399, Algiers 16000, Algeria |
| Received: December 17, 2018; in final form February 9, 2019 |
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| Undoped and Ag-doped ZnO thin films with different silver concentrations (0, 1, 3, and 7 wt%) were synthesized by sol-gel method and deposited onto glass substrate by dip-coating technique. Zinc acetate dehydrate and silver nitrate were used as starting materials. 2-Methoxyethanol and ethanolamine were used as solvent and stabilizer. Characterization by X-ray diffraction has revealed that the undoped and Ag-doped ZnO are polycrystalline, and have the wurtzite hexagonal structure with a preferred orientation along c-axis. The nanometric size (27-34 nm) of ZnO crystallites varies with the concentration of Ag. The surface morphology analysis, by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, depicts a homogeneous dispersion of ZnO crystallites in the form of randomly spread wrinkles-like formation. The Raman spectroscopy confirms the Ag incorporation in the ZnO lattice. All films exhibit a transmittance greater than 75% in the visible region, and a sharp absorption band at 325 nm corresponding to the fundamental absorption edge. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectra of the prepared thin films display a strong ultraviolet band at 380 nm originated from excitons recombination, and four bands in the visible region at 430 nm (violet), 460 nm, 480 nm (blue) and 530 nm (green) from created defect levels in the band gap. These synthesized materials may be potential candidates in the manufacture of devices using short wavelengths. |
DOI:10.12693/APhysPolA.135.526 topics: ZnO, Ag, thin films, sol-gel, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence |