Influence of iron doping on morphological, structural and optical properties of zinc oxide thin films prepared by dip-coating method

• Published in: Surface engineering and applied electrochemistry Vol. 52; no. 4; pp. 362 - 369
• Main Authors: Zegadi, C., Abderrahmane, A., Chaumont, D., Lacroute, Y., Abdelkebir, K., Hamzaoui, S., Adnane, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Allerton Press 01-07-2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Energy gap; Engineering; Iron oxides; Machines; Manufacturing; Morphology; Optical properties; Processes; Thin films; Zinc oxide; scanning electron microscopy; energy dispersive spectroscopy; sol-gel dip-coating; X-ray diffraction; Fe-doping ZnO; polycrystalline ZnO; ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• ISSN: 1068-3755; 1934-8002
• DOI: 10.3103/S1068375516040128

Undoped zinc oxide and iron-doped zinc oxide thin films have been deposited by the sol-geldipcoating method. The Fe/Zn nominal volume ratio was 5% in the solution. The effects of Fe incorporation on morphological, structural, and optical properties of ZnO films were investigated. The scanning electron microscopy measurements showed that the surface morphology of the prepared thin films was affected by Fe doping. The X-ray diffraction patterns of the thin films showed that doped incorporation leads to substantial changes in the structural characteristics of ZnO thin films. The optical absorption measurements indicated a band gap in the range of 3.31 to 3.19 eV. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrated that Fe is incorporated in the ZnO matrix with 6.5 atomic percent (at %). The energy dispersive spectroscopy studies indicated the formation of ZnO with high efficiency.