Effect of carrier gas and vacuum annealing on the physical properties of ZnO thin films doped with gallium by chemical spray pyrolysis [Articol]

Abstract

Structural, optical and electrical properties of zinc oxide thin films doped with 2% Ga, annealed in the vacuum at the same temperature and obtained onto glass substrates by the chemical spray pyrolysis method in the different gas atmospheres were investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), UV-VIS spectrophotometry and Hall measurements, respectively. XRD studies revealed that all films were polycrystalline in nature, with a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure and a predominant (002) c-axis orientation. All ZnO:Ga thin films had higher than 80 % transmittances in the visible region. Doping with 2% Ga led to a decrease in the optical band gap indifferent of the nature of the carrier gas. The synthesis of ZnO thin films with 2% Ga doping and annealing in the same conditions in Ar and O2 atmospheres led to the lower conductivity with electron concentration of 1016 cm−3.