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Effect of solvents on sol–gel spin-coated nanostructured Al-doped ZnO thin films: a film for key optoelectronic applications

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Abstract

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were deposited by sol–gel spin coating technique onto the glass substrates using different solvents such as 2-methoxyethanol, methanol, ethanol and isopropanol. Prepared films were characterized by XRD, Raman spectrum, SEM, UV–visible spectrophotometer, photoluminescence (PL) and electrical studies. XRD studies showed that all the prepared films are hexagonal wurtzite structure with polycrystalline nature oriented along (002) direction. SEM images showed uniform particles of size around 60 nm distributed regularly on to the entire glass substrate. EDX analysis confirmed the composition of grown AZO film consisting of Al, Zn and O elements. The prepared films showed highest optical transmittance ~ 94% in the visible range and band gap 3.30 eV. PL spectra for all AZO films showed a strong UV emission peak at 387 nm. The AZO films prepared using isopropanol solvent showed high carrier concentration and low resistivity values as 1.72 × 1020 cm−3 and 2.90 × 10−3 Ω cm, respectively, with high figure of merit (ϕ) value 8.42 × 10−3 (Ω/sq)−1.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Deanship of Scientific Research, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia, for providing the financial support under the Project number R.G.P. 2/3/38.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. PG and Research Department of Physics, Arul Anandar College, Karumathur, Madurai, India

    K. Deva Arun Kumar & S. Valanarasu

  2. Millimeter-Wave Innovation Technology Research Center (MINT), Dongguk University, Seoul, 100-715, Republic of Korea

    A. Kathalingam

  3. Advanced Functional Materials and Optoelectronic Laboratory (AFMOL), Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, Saudi Arabia

    V. Ganesh, Mohd. Shkir & S. AlFaify

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Kumar, K.D.A., Valanarasu, S., Kathalingam, A. et al. Effect of solvents on sol–gel spin-coated nanostructured Al-doped ZnO thin films: a film for key optoelectronic applications. Appl. Phys. A 123, 801 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-1426-z

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