Effect of aluminum doping on the structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films processed under thermal shock conditions

The structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of Al-doped ZnO thin films annealed under thermal shock conditions were studied. The films were prepared using the sol–gel method and deposited on glass substrates by dip-coating technique. The effects of varying the concentration of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Results in Optics
Main Authors: Abdelhek Amri, Louiza Arab, Afek Meftah, Aya Latif
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-05-01
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666950123000780
Description
Summary:The structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of Al-doped ZnO thin films annealed under thermal shock conditions were studied. The films were prepared using the sol–gel method and deposited on glass substrates by dip-coating technique. The effects of varying the concentration of aluminum (Al) were analyzed using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV–Vis, and the 4-point probe method. The XRD data demonstrated a degradation in the crystalline structure of the films and the emergence of other preferred directions (100) and (101), which supported the creation of a hexagonal wurtzite structure. The SEM images supported the findings of the XRD analysis. The best electrical and optical performance was obtained for an Al concentration of 1 at%, where the resistivity value was 0.191 Ω.cm and the band gap was 3.26 eV, with a high transmittance greater than 90%.The findings of this study render the developed thin-film architecture a viable candidate for high-performance optoelectronic applications.
ISSN:2666-9501