Influence of Mo doping on transparent conducting properties of ZnO films prepared by a simplified spray technique

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics Vol. 26; no. 10; pp. 7649 - 7654
• Main Authors: Ravichandran, K., Anbazhagan, A., Dineshbabu, N., Ravidhas, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carrier density; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystallites; Doping; Materials Science; Molybdenum; Optical and Electronic Materials; Spectrometers; Wurtzite; Zinc oxide; Zinc Oxide Thin Film; Ammonium Molybdate Tetrahydrate; Hexagonal Wurtzite Type Structure; Near Band Edge; Transparent Conducting Oxide Thin Film
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-015-3404-6

Molybdenum doped zinc oxide films were prepared by simplified spray pyrolysis method at a deposition temperature of 350 °C. Mo doping level in ZnO films were varied from 1 to 4 at.%. X-ray diffraction results reveal that all the films exhibit hexagonal wurtzite structure with preferential orientation along the (002) plane. The crystallite size is found to be varied from 29 to 59 nm with the increase in the Mo content. The film with 1 at.% Mo doping has good electrical properties among all doped samples in terms of the carrier concentration (7.5 × 10 19  cm −3 ), charge carrier mobility (18.2 cm 2  V −1  s −1 ), and a minimum resistivity (2.0 × 10 −3  Ω cm). UV–Vis spectrometer results show that all the films are highly transparent in the visible region and the band gap energy of the films varies from 3.19 to 3.14 eV as Mo doping level is increased.