Effect of Al and N doping on structural and optical properties of sol-gel derived ZnO thin films

In this work, ZnO ,N-doped ZnO(NZO) , Al-doped ZnO(AZO) and Al,N-doped ZnO(ANZO) thin films were prepared by the sol-gel spin-coating method based on zinc acetate dihydrate(CH₃COO)₂Zn-₂H₂O, Aluminium acetate (C₄H₇AlO₅), Ammonium acetate(CH₃COONH₄), absolute ethanol (C₂H₅OH) and diethanolamine ((HOCH₂CH₂)₂NH, DEA). All films were spin-coated on borosilicate substate for several coating repetition followed by annealing process at 550 °C for 4 hr in air. The structural properties and surface morphologies of films were characterized by X ray diffraction (XRD) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM). The optical properties of the films were interpreted from their transmission spectra using UV-VIS spectrophotometer.