Fabrication and characterization of NiO/ZnO p-n junctions by sol-gel spin coating technique

Transparent and conducting ZnO and NiO films, deposited by sol-gel spin coating technique, were used for fabrication of p-n junction. These films were characterized by diffraction (XDR), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-visible spectroscopy. XDR shows that NiO films have preferred orientation along the (111) direction, while ZnO films are highly orientated along the (002) direction. The optical transmittance of ZnO and NiO films are 84% and 77% respectively. I-V characteristics of the ZnO- NiO junction show rectification. The junction parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height, and series resistance are determined using conventional farward bias I-V characteristics, and the Cheung method.