Structural and Optical Prosperities of Nickel Doped Zinc Oxide Thin Films Grown by Low Cost Modified SILAR Method

Abstract

The effect of annealing in Ni doped Zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductor thin films grown by a modified SILAR method is presented in this study. The XRD diffraction patterns reveal good crystalline quality without any appreciable changes from pure ZnO films and are genuinely polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) investigation suggested that both the shape of the crystals and the texture of the films were highly influenced by the SILAR method. The SEM morphology shows the formation of vertical nanorods and interestingly, Ni doped ZnO shows fiber-like structures with good uniformity. These nano thin films are promising candidate for solar cells, photo detectors, and gas sensors.