Microstructural, FTIR and Raman spectroscopic study of Rare earth doped ZnO nanostructures

Abstract Yb doped ZnO nanorods were prepared on glass substrates by the hydrothermal method in order to investigate the insertion of Yb ions in the ZnO matrix and the related morphological, structural and vibrational properties of the samples. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the undoped and Yb doped ZnO nanorods exhibit the hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure with a preferential orientation along (1 0 1) direction and the size of the particle is found to be decreased with Yb content. SEM images show rods shape with more agglomeration in Yb doped ZnO nanorods. The vibrational study has also been performed using FT-IR spectroscopy which gives the presence of an absorption band corresponding to the stretching mode frequency of ZnO (Zn−O), the bands corresponding to organic precursors were no longer present in the FTIR spectrum after doping, which supports the incorporation of Yb ions into the ZnO lattice. Raman spectra confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite structure of pure and Yb doped ZnO nanoparticles with E2 (high) mode at 438 cm−1 and the presence of other possible defects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Yb doping on the structural and vibrational properties of ZnO nanorods.