Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Comparison between CrZO and AlZO thin layers and the effect of doping on the lattice properties of zinc oxide

  • Published:
Optical and Quantum Electronics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This work aims to study and compare the effect of doping with two elements (chromium and aluminum) and the addition ratio (0, 2, 5, and 8)% on the structural, morphological, surface, optical, and photocatalysis properties of zinc oxide thin films. Thin layers were prepared using the sol–gel deposition dip-coating technique on a glass slide. The X-ray analysis proved that the crystal structure of ZnO is of the type wurtzite; its effect was evident through a decrease in the intensity of the peaks and their shift towards the most prominent angles. The results of AFM showed an increase in the surface roughness during doping, as it gave a more effective surface during the use of Al element than during the use of Cr. The shape of the spherical grains was confirmed by the SEM device, where we obtained a larger size of the grains with a porous surface in the case of doping with Al compared with Cr. Based on the transmittance spectrum, the energy gap of the samples was calculated, which was found to have increased with doping, where ZnO had an energy gap of 3.23 eV, and its value in the case of doping with 8% of Cr and Al reached (3.24 and 3.29) eV, respectively. A good surface for the AlZO sample made it more catalytic. It gave it the most significant gradient rate, estimated at 55.23% during a time of 180 min, compared to the CrZO sample, which was estimated at 32.99% during the same period.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The data supporting this work are available upon reasonable request from the authors.

References

  • Al-Hardan, N.H., Abdullah, M.J., Abdul Aziz, A.: Performance of Cr-doped ZnO for acetone sensing. Appl. Surface Sci. 270, 480–485 (2013)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Ali, D., Butt, M.Z., Arif, B., Al-Sehemi, A.G., Al-Ghamdi, A.A., Yakuphanoglu, F.: Li induced enhancement in c-axis orientation and its effect on structural, optical, and electrical properties of ZnO thin films. Mater. Res. Express 4(2), 026405 (2017)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Aljawfi, R.N., Rahman, F., Batoo, K.M.: Effect of grain size and boundary defects on electrical and magnetic properties of Cr doped ZnO nanoparticles. J Molecular Structure 1065, 199–204 (2014)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Bouras, D., Mecif, A., Mahdjoub, A., Harabi, A., Zaabat, M., Benzitouni, S., Regis, B.: Photocatalytic degradation of orange II by active layers of Cu-doped ZnO deposited on porous ceramic substrates. J. Ovonic Res. 13(5), 271–281 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouras, D., Mecif, A., Barillé, R., Harabi, A., Rasheed, M., Mahdjoub, A., Zaabat, M.: Cu: ZnO deposited on porous ceramic substrates by a simple thermal method for photocatalytic application. Ceram. Int. 44(17), 21546–21555 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouras, D., Mecif, A., Harabi, A., Barillé, R., Mahdjoub, A., Zaabat, M.: Economic and ultrafast photocatalytic degradation of orange II using ceramic powders. Catalysts 11(733), 1–22 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, C.-J., Chen, J.-K., Yang, T.-L.: Cr-doped ZnO based NO2 sensors with high sensitivity at low operating temperature. J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. Eng. 45(4), 1876–1882 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dkhilalli, F., MegdicheBorchani, S., Rasheed, M., Barille, R., Shihab, S., Guidara, K., Megdiche, M.: Characterizations and morphology of sodium tungstate particles. Royal Soc. Open Sci. 5(8), 172214 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El Hichou, A., Addou, M., Bougrine, A., Dounia, R., Ebothé, J., Troyon, M., Amrani, M.: Cathodoluminescence properties of undoped and Al-doped ZnO thin films deposited on glass substrate by spray pyrolysis. Mater. Chem. Phys. 83(1), 43–47 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enneffati, M., Louati, B., Guidara, K., Rasheed, M., Barillé, R.: Crystal structure characterization and AC electrical conduction behavior of sodium cadmium orthophosphate. J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 29(1), 171–179 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  • Jin, H.-J., Song, M.-J., Park, C.-B.: A novel phenomenon: p-Type ZnO: Al films deposited on n-Si’s findings his study substrate. Physica B 404(8–11), 1097–1101 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Kandjani, A.E., Tabriz, M.F., Moradi, O.M., Mehr, H.R., Kandjani, S.A., Vaezi, M.R.: An investigation on linear optical properties of dilute Cr doped ZnO thin films synthesized via sol–gel process. J. Alloys Compounds 509(30), 7854–7860 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, M., Park, Y., Kim, K., Hong, J.: Influence of sputtering conditions on the properties of aluminum-doped zinc oxide thin film fabricated using a facing target sputtering system. Thin Solid Films 703, 137980 (2020)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Li, C., Zang, Z., Han, C., Zhiping, Hu., Tang, X., Juan, Du., Leng, Y., Sun, K.: Highly compact CsPbBr 3 perovskite thin films decorated by ZnO nanoparticles for enhanced random lasing. Nano Energy 40, 195–202 (2017a)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, C., Han, C., Zhang, Y., Zang, Z., Wang, M., Tang, X., Jihe, Du.: Enhanced photoresponse of self-powered perovskite photodetector based on ZnO nanoparticles decorated CsPbBr 3 films. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 172, 341–346 (2017b)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado, F., Stashans, A.: Al-doped ZnO: Electronic, electrical and structural properties. J. Phys. Chem. Solids. 71(5), 784–787 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Rasheed, M., Barillé, R.: Optical constants of DC sputtering derived ITO, TiO2 and TiO2: Nb thin films characterized by spectrophotometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry for optoelectronic devices. J. Non-Crystalline Solids 476, 1–14 (2017a)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Rasheed, M., Barillé, R.: Room temperature deposition of ZnO and Al: ZnO ultrathin films on glass and PET substrates by DC sputtering technique. Opt. Quant. Electron. 49(5), 1–14 (2017b)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasheed, M., Barillé, R.: Comparison the optical properties for Bi2O3 and NiO ultrathin films deposited on different substrates by DC sputtering technique for transparent electronics. J. Alloy. Compd. 728, 1186–1198 (2017c)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ri, K.H., Wang, Y., Zhou, W. L., Gao, J. X., Wang, X. J., Jun, Y.: The structural properties of Al doped ZnO films depending on the thickness and their effect on the electrical properties. Appl. Surface Sci. 258(4), 1283–1289 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Saidani, T., Zaabat, M., Aida, M.S., Barille, R., Rasheed, M., Almohamed, Y.: Influence of precursor source on sol-gel deposited ZnO thin films properties. J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 28(13), 9252–9257 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sukee, A., Kantarak, E., Singjai, P.: Preparation of aluminum doped zinc oxide thin films on glass substrate by sparking process and their optical and electrical properties. J. Phys: Conf Ser 901(1), 012153 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  • Swanepoel, R.: Determination of the thickness and optical constants of amorphous silicon. J. Phys. E: Sci. Instrum. 16(12), 1214 (1983)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, H., Cao, S., Yang, B., Li, H., Wang, M., Xiaofei, H., Sun, K., Zang, Z.: NH4Cl-modified ZnO for high-performance CsPbIBr 2 perovskite solar cells via low-temperature process. Solar Rrl 4(1), 1900363 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zang, Z.: Efficiency enhancement of ZnO/Cu2O solar cells with well oriented and micrometer grain sized Cu2O films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 112(4), 042106 (2018)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Zang, Z., Zeng, X., Jihe, Du., Wang, M., Tang, X.: Femtosecond laser direct writing of microholes on roughened ZnO for output power enhancement of InGaN light-emitting diodes. Opt. Lett. 41(15), 3463–3466 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the Laboratory of Active Components and Materials (LACM) of Larbi Ben M’hidi University—Oum El Bouaghi, Algeria.

Funding

The authors have not disclosed any funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Active Components and Materials (LCAM), University of Larbi Ben M’hidi, 04000, Oum El Bouaghi, Algeria

    Dikra Bouras

  2. Applied Sciences Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq

    Mohammed Rasheed

Authors
  1. Dikra Bouras
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mohammed Rasheed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammed Rasheed.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bouras, D., Rasheed, M. Comparison between CrZO and AlZO thin layers and the effect of doping on the lattice properties of zinc oxide. Opt Quant Electron 54, 824 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-022-04161-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-022-04161-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation