Sol-gel derived aluminium doped zinc oxide thin films: A view of aluminium doping effect on physicochemical and NO2 sensing properties

Abstract Aluminium doped ZnO (AZO) thin films have been synthesized by using a sol-gel spin coating method. The effect of Al-doping on physicochemical and NO 2 sensing properties of the AZO thin films were studied. The structural and compositional analysis confirms the phase formation of ZnO and substitution of aluminium atoms into zinc oxide lattice. The gas sensing performance of AZO thin films investigated at different operational temperatures towards NO 2 gas. The NO 2 sensing study reveals that the 2 at% AZO film sensor shows excellent gas sensing characteristics at 200 °C.