Study of Co-doped ZnO thin films deposited by low-cost spin coating

Abstract

ZnO semiconductor has been commonly utilized in the creation of numerous nano-optoelectronic devices because of their outstanding optical and electronic properties. It is an important study subject as it was predicted that metal transition elements doping ZnO will advance the optical and electrical characteristics of the material. Because of its great solubility in the ZnO matrix and its various electron states, Co is one of the transition metals and is expected to be a reasonable choice. In this work, low-cost spin coating at 400 0C was used to form thin films of Zn1−xCoxO (x = 0.02, 0.04, 0.06) on a glass substrate. We looked at how the amount of Co doping affected the optical, structural, and magnetic characteristics of ZnO films. The films had a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure and were strongly orientated, according to the XRD study. The XRD pattern did not show any impurity phases. The optical and structural characteristics of these films reveal that the replacement of Co2+ ions for Zn2+ ions did not affect the wurtzite structure. Both the energy band gap and the c-axis lattice constant underwent a systematic shift with a rise in the Co content. The magnetic studies show that these films don't exhibit room-temperature ferromagnetic activity.