Effect of molarity of precursor solution on physical, structural, microstructural and electrical properties of nanocrystalline ZnO thin films

Abstract

Nanocrystalline ZnO thin films were successfully prepared using simple spray pyrolysis technique. Zinc acetate dihydrate and deionised water was used as starting precursor solution. Nanocrystalline ZnO thin films were prepared by varying molarities of precursor solution from 0·025 to 0·1M. The films were characterised using X-ray diffractogram (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and element composition was studied using an energy dispersive spectrophotometer (EDAX).The film thickness was measured using weight difference method. Thermoelectric power measurements were conducting using TEP set-up, electrical conductivity measured with the help of two probe method. The grain size and number of unit cell were observed to be increase with increase in molarities of precursor solution. From XRD, it was observed that the molarities of precursor solution goes on increasing with increases in texture coefficient for plane (002) while it is decreases for plane (101). Effect of molarities of precursor solution on physical, structural, microstructural and electrical properties of these films was studied and presented in the present investigation.