“Composition influence on surface morphology and optical properties of nanocolumnar ZnO films”

J.OROZCO; V.DONDERIS; L. C. DAMONTE; J.CEMBRERO; M.A.HERNÁNDEZ-FENOLLOSA

Bs.As., Argentina

Congreso; At the Frontiers of Condensed Matter III, New Trends in Structural, Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Matter; 2006

TANDAR

ZnO is an n-type semiconductor and its conductivity can be controlled by thermal treatment or by adequate doping. The doping of ZnO films with the group III elements can increase the conductivity of the films. In comparison with other elements, Al, Ga and In are the best dopants because their ionic radii are similar to that of Zn2+ Moreover, ZnO thin films have been grown by many techniques, among which electrochemical deposition has the advantage of its simplicity and ease of application for large area solar cells. Compared with many other methods, it only requires low deposition temperatures and does not need any vacuum systems, although some conductive substrate is needed to apply a current to the solution. As it is a technique that only requires inexpensive equipment, it results in low cost processes. This technique allows controlling nanostructure dimensions by means of the growth parameters.  In this experiment, a group of samples were synthesized under the same growing conditions with the objective of investigate the In and Al  incorporation into electrochemically deposited ZnO thin film. The influence of the incorporation into their structural and optical properties is investigated.