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Zhang, X. L., Hui, K. S. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7089-7587, Bin, Feng, Hui, K. N., Li, Lei, Cho, Y. R., Mane, Rajaram S. and Zhou, Wei
(2015)
Effect of thermal annealing on the structural, electrical and optical properties of Al-Ni co-doped ZnO thin films prepared using a sol-gel method.
Surface and Coatings Technology, 261.
pp. 149-155.
ISSN 0257-8972
Abstract
Al-Ni co-doped ZnO (NiAl:ZnO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates using a sol-gel method. Based on a previous study, Zn1-xAlxO (AZO; Al/Zn=1.5mol%) thin films optimized with a Ni content of 0.5mol% were annealed at different temperatures from 450 to 600°C in N2/H2 (95/5) forming gas for 1h. The effects of the annealing temperature on the structural, electrical and optical properties were determined. X-ray diffraction showed that NiAl:ZnO thin film annealed at 500°C exhibited the best crystallization quality. XPS revealed the presence of metallic Ni and Ni2O3 states, as well as Ni and Al atoms were successfully doped in NiAl:ZnO films, which did not result in a change in ZnO crystal structure and orientation. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the films were smooth and compact, and the grain size increased with increasing annealing temperature from ~23.8nm to ~34.6nm. According to the Hall Effect measurements, when the temperature reached 500°C, the resistivity of the thin film showed the lowest value of 1.05×10-3 (Ωcm), which is the lowest resistivity reported for NiAl:ZnO films. The UV-Vis transmission spectra showed a high transmittance of more than 80% in the visible light range, and the band gap of the films was increased from 3.30 to 3.55eV. This study showed that the annealing temperature in the forming gas is a vital factor affecting the quality of thin films. In addition, 500°C was found to be the most appropriate annealing temperature for NiAl:ZnO films. This study provides a simple and efficient method for preparing high quality, high transparency and low resistivity NiAl:ZnO films for optoelectronic applications.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | al-ni co-doped zno,annealing temperature,forming gas,sol-gel method |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > School of Engineering (former - to 2024) University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Energy Materials Laboratory Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Emerging Technologies for Electric Vehicles (EV) |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | Pure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Oct 2016 12:01 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Sep 2024 12:15 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/60671 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2014.11.043 |
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