Electro-optical characteristics of pure and aluminium doped zinc oxide nanosheet thin films

In this study, pure Zinc Oxide (ZO) and Aluminium doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) nanosheet thin films were prepared on FTO glass substrate by Sol-gel spin coating methods. The morphological characteristics of the thin film is analysed using HRSEM and the average range of the nanosheets is found to be 20nm-50nm. The chemical representations were verified with FTIR analysis which recorded the corresponding chemical bond states of the samples. Optical properties were analysed with UV-DRS spectra and band gap was determined using Kubelka-Munk plot. The electrical properties of the samples studied by photoconductivity revealed enhanced photocurrent for AZO apparently due to its augmented surface area of the sample. Stability of AZO is higher, than the ZO sample which was verified with Nyquist plots. The superior electro-optical features of AZO over that of bare ZnO, essentially suggest that it could be a potential material for photovoltaic applications.