Effect of aliovalent ion doping on structural, optoelectronic and sensing properties of Zno

Abstract

Zinc oxide (molecular formula : ZnO) is a multifunctional material, with its unique physical and chemical properties such as high chemical stability, high electrochemical coupling coefficient, high photo stability and broad range of radiation absorption[1,2]. It is recognised as a potential II–VI photonic semiconductor materials due to its wide band gap (∼3.3 eV) and high exciton binding energy (∼60 meV)[3]. It possesses considerable potential for applications in optoelectronic devices such as UV lasers, LEDs, as electrode in solar cells, gas and bio sensors etc. The last few years have witnessed tremendous efforts on understanding the physical and optical properties of ZnO with particular attention on fabrication and device applications[4]. Many synthesis routes like sol-gel, hydrothermal, co-precipitation, wet chemical method etc has been used to obtain high quality nano/microstructure ZnO material[5]. It is also well established that ZnO optoelectronic properties strongly vary depending on its defect structure based on synthesis techniques.