Influence of Co doping content on its valence state in Zn1−xCoxO (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) thin films

Zn1−xCoxO (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) thin films grown on Si (1 0 0) substrates were prepared by a sol–gel technique. The effects of Co doped on the structural, optical properties and surface chemical valence states of the Zn1−xCoxO (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet–visible spectrometer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XRD results show that the Zn1−xCoxO films retained a hexagonal crystal structure of ZnO with better c-axis preferred orientation compared to the undoped ZnO films. The optical absorption spectra suggest that the optical band-gap of the Zn1−xCoxO thin films varied from 3.26 to 2.79 eV with increasing Co content from x = 0 to x = 0.15. XPS studies show the possible oxidation states of Co in Zn1−xCoxO (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.05), Zn0.90Co0.10O and Zn0.85Co0.15O are CoO, Co3O4 and Co2O3, with an increase of Co content, respectively.