Synthesis and structure correlated opto-electronic, mechanical and sensing properties of Fe/Si modified ZnO

Abstract

Zinc oxide (molecular formula: ZnO), is a multifunctional material having physical/chemical properties. High electrochemical coupling coefficient, high photo stability, high chemical stability, and broad range of radiation absorption [1-2]. Its wide band gap (∼3.37 eV) and high exciton binding energy (∼60 meV) [3] recognises it as a potential II–VI photonic semiconductor material. ZnO is used in optoelectronic devices, UV lasers, LEDs, electrodes in solar cells, gas/bio sensors etc. Research in the field have witnessed tremendous efforts in last few years for exploring the physical/optical properties of ZnO, particularly on fabrication and device applications [4]. To obtain high quality nano/micro structured ZnO material [5], synthesis processes like sol-gel, hydrothermal, co-precipitation and wet chemical method is used. It is known that optoelectronic properties of ZnO strongly vary depending on defect structure and based on synthesis techniques.