Effect of Al doping on microstructure and optical band gap of ZnO thin film synthesized by successive ion layer adsorption and reaction

Thin films of pure and aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) were deposited on glass substrates from ammonium zincate bath following a chemical dipping technique called successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR). Characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-rays (EDX) were used to investigate the effect of Al doping on the microstructure of AZO films. Particle size analysis using X-ray line broadening shows marginally increasing trend with increasing Al impurity. The average particle size for pure ZnO is 22.75 nm. It increases to 24.26 nm for 1% AZO film and 25.13 nm for 2% AZO film. Incorporation of Al was confirmed from elemental analysis using EDX. SEM micrograph shows that pure ZnO particles are spherical shaped. However, AZO films show particles with off-spherical shape with compact interconnected grains. The value of band gap for pure ZnO is 3.229 eV and it increases to 3.29 eV for 1% AZO indicating a blue-shift for 1% AZO film. However, for 2% AZO film, a decrease in band gap compared to pure ZnO is observed indicating a red-shift of fundamental absorption edge. Electrical resistance shows an initial decrease with increasing Al content. With further enhancement of Al incorporation, the resistance increases.