Co-doped Zinc Oxide Thin Films Research Articles

Wedge-shape Al and Mg co-doped zinc oxide thin films: A Facile Route to achieve high thermoelectric power factor

Thin film thermoelectric technology has immense potential to become a next-generation power source for small-scale electronics. However, the rapid development of thin film thermoelectric still lacks a controllable structural design to improve the performance of thermoelectric devices for required temperature applications. This work presented a controlled thermoelectric design of ZnO-based thin films by Al and Mg co-doping using ALD. Herein, the Mg-doped ZnO sample exhibits the highest Seebeck coefficient of −311.83 μVK−1 at 500oC, while the maximum thermoelectric power factor of 3.68 μWcm−1K−2 is obtained at 300oC, which drops for higher temperatures. This decrease in power factor resulted from the reduction in electrical conductivity above 300oC. Similarly, the Al and Mg co-doped ZnO sample (Mg/Al ≈2 at%) exhibits a high thermoelectric power factor of 3.85 μWcm−1K−2 for ZnO based material due to its moderate electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient value at 325oC and behave monotonically for elevated temperatures. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show the formation of wedge-shaped structures for Al-incorporated samples, which helps to boost the overall thermoelectric performance. Additionally, we performed XRD, UV–Vis, Hall, and AFM analysis to get a deep insight into structural, optical, electrical, and surface features of the grown thin films and their linkage with the thermoelectric properties.

The structural, optical, electrical and radiation shielding properties of Co-doped ZnO thin films

Co:ZnO thin films are promising due to the similar ionic radii of cobalt and ZnO, and their potential for carrier spin injection, transfer, and detection. This study aims to investigate the structural, optical, electrical, and radiation shielding properties of Co-doped zinc oxide (Co:ZnO) thin films for potential applications in various fields such as semiconductors, solar cells, spintronics, and radiation shielding. The effect of commercially available Cobalt acetate tetrahydrate and Cobalt complex (Co with conjugated NN ligand) as cobalt additives on the synthesis of ZnO thin films is compared, aiming to discern their respective impacts. The dopants are incorporated in 2, 4, and 6 wt%, employing the sol-gel spin coating method.Applying cobalt complex additive as Co precursor resulted in ZnO:Co films with a superior enhancement of the electronic band gap of 2.84–3.00 eV compared to cobalt acetate precursor (2.62–2.84 eV). With the introduction of Cobalt, there is a notable change in the electrical conductivity, showcasing a decrease from 1.5x10−7 to 2.11x10−10 (S/cm). Also, radiation shielding parameters were experimentally measured in the energy range of 186.1–1764.5 keV within the scope of gamma ray spectral analysis. Exposure buildup factors (EBF) in the energy range of 15–15,000 keV were calculated up to 1–40 mean free path (mfp). Mass stopping power (MSP) and projected range values (PR) for nuclear safety applications were calculated for protons and alpha particles using the SRIM code. Thin film thicknesses were determined by using Lambert-Beer law. It was observed that the thin film thicknesses obtained from gamma spectrometry (2.090–2.628 μm) and SEM (2.157–2.725 μm) were compatible with each other.

Investigation of structural, optical, electrical, thermoelectric and optoelectronic properties of undoped ZnO, Sb-doped ZnO and Sb–B co-doped ZnO thin films

Pure ZnO (Zinc oxide), 1 % Sb (antimony) doped ZnO (Zn0.99Sb0.01O), and 1 % Sb–1% B (boron) co-doped ZnO (Zn0.98Sb0.01B0.01O) solutions were prepared using the sol-gel method. These solutions were deposited as thin films on glass and Si (silicon) substrates via dip coating and spraying methods. In this study, doping ZnO with low amounts of Sb and B provided the conversion of the n-type semiconductor ZnO into a p-type semiconductor. The produced thin films were pure and had wurtzite ZnO polycrystalline structure. The nanodot morphology of ZnO turned into a mixture of nanodot and nanorod structures with only Sb doping. Moreover, the band gap energy of ZnO decreased from 3.26 eV to 3.24 eV with Sb doping and to 3.23 eV with Sb and B co-doping, accompanied by a decrease in optical transmittance depending on film thickness. All samples exhibited diode characteristics. According to the created Au/ZnO–Zn0.99Sb0.01O – Zn0.98Sb0.01B0.01O/Si diodes, it was understood that the ideality factor, barrier height, and serial resistance of ZnO material decreased with doping. Especially, the ideality factor, barrier height, and serial resistance of the ZnO sample decreased from 4.95, 6.80 eV, and 1.42 × 105Ω to 4.35, 6.25 eV, and 2.60 × 103Ω, respectively, with Sb and B co-doping. The photovoltaic performance of 1 % Sb-doped thin film increased 100 times compared to pure ZnO, reaching the efficiency from 0.006 to 0.600. However, the most suitable material for use as a photodiode was found to be the 1 % Sb–1% B co-doped sample. While the leakage current of this sample is around −8.0 × 10−5 A at −3 V under 100 mW/cm2 light, it is 9.5 × 10−8 A at −3 V in the dark. Furthermore, the 1 % Sb-doped thin film exhibited the best performance as a thermoelectric material at 600 K, achieving a figure of merit (ZT) of 0.00052. Overall, co-doping with Sb and B enhanced the optical, electrical, and structural (more homogeneous and less surface roughness) properties of ZnO, while improving its optoelectronic functionality such as photodiode. On the other hand, thermoelectric and solar cell properties of ZnO were enhanced with only 1 % Sb doping. A hybrid energy system containing thermoelectric and solar cells was produced cheaply and simply for wide application areas with this study. Moreover, with such a low doping amount, p-type material production was achieved, and important physical properties of the ZnO material were improved.

IGZO thin films deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis: effect of Zn precursor milling and In and Ga concentration

Codoped zinc oxide thin films with indium and gallium (IGZO) were deposited on soda-lime glass substrates by the ultrasonic chemical spray (USP) technique. The influence of the mechanical grinding process of Zn precursor (zinc acetate, AcZn) and the In and Ga concentrations was analyzed. The grinding process was carried out in a planetary ball mill, with a ball:/precursor ratio of 4:1, and a constant rotation speed of 300 RPM. The starting solutions were prepared at a molar concentration of 0.2 and variable In and Ga atomic concentration (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 at%). The deposition conditions were kept constant, substrate temperature of 450 °C and deposition time of 7 min. Structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties were analyzed. From the structural analysis a preferential orientation along the (101) plane for dominant In concentrated IGZO films was observed, whereas for dominant Ga concentrated was the (002) plane. The average optical transmission was in the range of 83–90%, confirming the high transparency of all the deposited films. The bandgap values, Eg, showed slight variations, from 3.43 to 3.53 eV. The best electrical properties were obtained in the IGZO films with an In:Ga ratio of 1.5:1 [IGZO(1.5:1)], evaluated by the figure of merit, 3.50 × 10–3 (Ω/□)−1, calculated for an optical transmission of 86% and a sheet resistance of 63 Ω/□. According to the obtained results, the IGZO thin films deposited by the USP technique, are potentially applicable in the field of optoelectronics, mainly as transparent electrode.

The Effect of Co and Cu Co-Doping Zno Thin Films on Structural and Optical Properties

Abstract Using a spray pneumatic technique, cobalt (Co) and copper (Cu) co-doped zinc oxide thin films were effectively deposited on a glass substrate. The goal of this work was to create a semiconductor with good optical and electrical properties by co-doping ZnO thin films with Cu and Co. The ZnO thin films obtained from the Co and Cu co-doping exhibit patterns of x-ray diffraction spectra that suggest they are hexagonal ZnO (wurtzite, JCPDS 36-1451). The thin film elaborated with 2 % Co and 7 % Cu has the lowest value of crystallite size (D = 14.67 nm). The transmission spectra demonstrate that all films have good optical transparency in the visible spectrum, with 7 % Cu achieving the highest transmission. Increasing Cu contents raised the band gap energy. The value at the minimum was 3.31 eV. The optical band gap’s broadening is a significant characteristic of advanced materials and may be useful in applications involving metal oxide nanostructures for visible light gas sensing.

Structural, Optical, and Electrical Properties of Hafnium-Aluminum-Zinc-Oxide Films Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition for TCO Applications.

ZnO is a widely studied material that exhibits versatile doping possibilities. Most research presents singly doped ZnO, leaving the potential of codoping unexplored. Within this study, hafnium-aluminum codoped zinc oxide (HAZO) thin films were grown on a glass substrate using the atomic layer deposition technique at 200 °C. A comprehensive analysis of the surface morphology and electrical and optical properties of the samples was conducted for varying the Al/Hf doping ratio. X-ray diffraction studies showed that the obtained films are polycrystalline, exhibiting a preferential growth direction along the (1 0 0) plane without any detectable precipitates. Moreover, the electrical measurements of HAZO films revealed that they exhibit lower resistivity (∼9.5 × 10-4 Ωcm) than the commonly used aluminum zinc oxide films (AZO). This improvement can be primarily attributed to the promotion of the n-type carrier concentration to 4.45 × 1020 cm-3 while maintaining a mobility value equal to 14.7 cm2/Vs. The doping also influences the optical properties of the material by widening the band gap and changing the refractive index, as observed by spectroscopy and ellipsometry studies. These findings highlight the potential of proposed HAZO thin films for future applications in electronic devices utilizing transparent conducting oxides.

Al, Mg Co-doped ZnO thin films: Effect of the annealing temperature on the resistivity and ultraviolet photoconductivity

Interesting electrical and optical properties can be obtained from sol-gel doped Zinc Oxide (ZnO) materials by controlled introduction of dopants in the precursor solution. In this work we investigate the effects of annealing temperature on Al and Mg co-doped ZnO thin films. All samples were dip coated from the same solution, using identical techniques and pre-heating temperature, but were annealed in air at various temperatures ranging from 500°C to 650°C. A three-order magnitude reduction in electrical resistivity was achieved for an increase of 100°C annealing temperature. The structural properties and the energy band-gap remained relatively unchanged during this process. Photocurrent measurements carried out using an ultraviolet excitation source indicate a 5x increase in magnitude, along with increase in persistence behavior. The mechanism behind these effects has been linked to temperature-induced variation in Mg to Al ratio in the films, measured using energy dispersive spectroscopy. Our results indicate that strong in-plane variation of resistivity in ZnO thin films can be carried out using localized heating, opening the way to simpler fabrication processes.

Microstructural characterization and physical properties of transparent conducting magnesium–titanium co-doped zinc oxide thin films

Microstructural characterization and physical properties of transparent conducting magnesium–titanium co-doped zinc oxide thin films

Enhancement in structural, elemental and optical properties of boron–phosphorus Co-doped ZnO thin films by high-temperature annealing

The inherent n-type nature of zinc oxide (ZnO) and its unstable p-type behavior with single dopant species have encouraged researchers to explore the effect of multiple dopants as a viable solution for long-term stability and repeatability. Herein, we report boron (B) and phosphorus (P) co-doped ZnO thin films engineered through an optimized ion implantation technique followed by annealing at 1000 °C in oxygen ambiance. We investigated their structural, chemical, and optical properties to capture the effect of both boron implantation duration and annealing temperature. Co-doping with boron was observed to boost phosphorus incorporation in the film. Compared with P-doping, P–B co-doping increased the dominance of acceptor-bound exciton peak and also, suppressed non-radiative/visible emission which is due to reduced Madelung energy. After high-temperature annealing at 1000 °C, further narrowing of optical emission peaks generated due to acceptor incorporation was observed. Also, the co-doped samples showed stability in the acceptor behavior for more than one year.

Electrodeposition of Zn-Co-Terephthalate MOF and Its Conversion to Co-Doped ZnO Thin Films

Doping of transition metals to zinc oxide (ZnO) is of great interest for its functionalization as magnetic semiconductor and electrocatalyst. In this study, electrodeposition of metal organic framework (MOF) thin films, in which zinc and cobalt ions are bridged by terephthalic acid (TPA), was made possible by adding TPA to an O2-saturated aqueous solution containing ZnCl2 and CoCl2. The resulting Zn-Co-TPA MOF was converted to a Co-doped ZnO thin film by annealing at 450 °C to burn away TPA and promote crystallization. Simple mixture of ZnCl2 and CoCl2 without TPA resulted in electrodeposition of Co2Cl(OH)3 along with ZnO, proving usefulness of TPA to blend Zn2+ and Co2+ ions having largely different solubilities and reduction potentials. The maximum achievable doping concentration was about 8%, because excessive addition of CoCl2 resulted in electrodeposition of metallic Co.

Tailoring of optical, hydrophobic, and anti-icing properties of Ca–Mg co-doped ZnO thin films via sol–gel method

Ice formation on solid surfaces may originate serious problems in various fields such as aircraft, electrical lines etc. Hydrophobic coatings and surfaces can have potential applications with anti-icing properties via excessive repellency of water. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a material with great importance in many technological applications. Recently, co-doping with different elements in zinc oxide is collecting research interest for hydrophobicity. In this work, calcium co-doped with magnesium in zinc oxide (CaMgZnO) thin films were deposited by sol–gel spin coating method. The doping percentage for calcium was x = 0, 1, 2.5, 4 at% as (CaxMg0.025Zn0.975-x). X-ray diffraction results revealed that all the films had hexagonal wurtzite structure and preferred (002) plane dominance with no secondary phase. Crack free surface was found for all the samples by SEM images. All the deposited films had average transmission of greater than 80%. Maximum band gap value of 3.43 eV revealed for max doping level. Furthermore, optical constants, complex dielectric functions, energy loss functions, and photoluminescence study were also explored. Hydrophobic behavior was evaluated for all the samples and more hydrophobicity with the water contact angle (WCA) of 104.06° produced by the sample having equal amount of calcium and magnesium. De-icing properties like freezing on-set and freezing delay was −15.1 °C and 900 s with the temperature set-point −5 °C respectively. Likewise, maximum freezing delay with temperature set-point −10 °C was 630 s.

F and Al co-doped zinc oxide thin films deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis: Effects of substrate temperature on physical properties

In this study, F and Al co-doped ZnO (FAZO) films were prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis combined with rapid thermal annealing treatment. The influence of substrate temperature (Ts) on the structure, morphology, and electrical and optical properties of the prepared FAZO films was systematically studied. The results showed the hexagonal wurtzite structure of all prepared FAZO films and the gradual changes in the preferred orientation of the films from (100) to (100) and (002) with increasing temperature. With increasing Ts, the diffraction peak of (002) became stronger, the morphology of the thin film changed from a mix of “rice-granular” small particles and “shell-like” large particles to flat and dense morphology, and the root-mean-square variation of the film’s particle size decreased. Furthermore, the resistivity decreased with an increase in Ts, and the film transmittance and optical bandgap increased significantly. The FAZO film prepared at 480 °C had the best photoelectric characteristics, with mobility of 22.9 cm2/(Vs), carrier concentration of 1.75 × 1020 cm–3, resistivity of 1.56 × 10–3 Ωcm, and over 85% average transmittance in the optical range of 400–1400 nm.

Optical and electrical characteristics of p-type AlN co-doped ZnO thin films synthesized by RF sputtering

Zinc oxide (ZnO) has attracted significant interest due to its exceptional material characteristics like its wide band gap (3.37 eV) and the high exciton binding energy. However, the application of ZnO is constrained by the difficulty in obtaining P-type samples. In this study, p- type ZnO thin films were fabricated using the co-doping technique with ZnO and AlN targets. Different RF powers were used for ZnO to deposite the films. However, the power on AlN target was fixed at 90 W. The structural, optical and electrical properties of the prepared films were inspected. The results of XRD showed that all the films exhibited ZnO (002) peak of wurzite structure. The UV emission peaks (3.24 eV–3.53 eV) identified in PL spectra is possibly due to the recombination of free excitons. The Raman peaks which shown at 576.22 cm−1 and 274 cm−1 denote ZnO:AlN and ZnO:N respectively. The Hall measurements of the films deposited at RF powers of 250 W and 200 W for ZnO target exhibited n-type conduction with corresponding mobilities of 2.75 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 1.58 cm2 V−1 s−1 respectively with electron concentrations of 2.35 × 1018cm−3 and 5.26 × 1018cm−3, respectively. However, the films deposited using RF powers of (150, 175) W and 225 W for ZnO target exhibited p-type conduction with hole concentrations of 2.14 × 1017 cm−3, 2.37 × 1019 cm−3 and 3.68 × 1021 cm−3 with corresponding mobilities of 9.21 cm2 V−1 s−1, 0.129 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 3.41 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1 respectively. Therefore, RF power values of (150, 175) W and 225 W might be ideal for dopants activation to obtain p-type ZnO.

Investigation of structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of Co/Ni co-doped ZnO thin films

This work reports on the preparation and characterization of zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films using spray pyrolysis technique on glass substrates. The effect of cobalt and nickel doping and nickel/cobalt co-doping on the structural, optical, morphological and electrical properties of obtained films have been investigated. The obtained films are characterized by different techniques such as X-rays diffraction (XRD), UV-Visible, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and four probes electrical measurements. The results of the XRD characterization indicate that all the films of interest have the wurtzite hexagonal polycrystalline structure with (002) preferred orientation. Images of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to observe the effect of doping and co-doping on films surface. Spectroscopy measurements in UV-VIS wavelength range have found to give good values of transmission (average value = 85%) for all elaborated layers, with a high transmission of 93% for the film deposited at 3%Ni. The films exhibit high transmittance around 85% with the presence of interference fringes in the visible region, indicating the films homogeneity and smoothness. The deduced optical gap values from optical measurement are found to be in the range of 3.26–3.30 eV. The electrical analysis shows that the conductivity increases with the co-doping compared to the pure ZnO film. The characterization of ZnO film co-doped 3%Ni:3%Co showed that the material under focus is a good candidate for optoelectronic applications such as the manufacture of solar cells with transparent electrodes.

Optical, Structural, and Crystal Defects Characterizations of Dip Synthesized (Fe-Ni) Co-Doped ZnO Thin Films.

Sol-gel technique is used to synthesize as-grown zinc oxide (ZnO) and iron-nickel (Fe-Ni) co-doped ZnO thin films deposited on glass substrates using dip coating technique. The structural properties and crystal imperfections of as-prepared thin films are investigated. We performed the structural analysis of films using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD analysis reveal that the as-prepared films exhibit wurtzite structure. Furthermore, XRD-line profile analysis is performed to study the correlation between structural properties and imperfections of the nanocomposite thin films. The crystallite size and microstrains parameters are predicted using the Williamson–Hall method. We found that the crystallites size increases as the co-doped (Fe-Ni) concentration is increased. However, microstrains of the nanocomposite films decreases as (Fe-Ni) concentration is increased. The optical properties of the (Fe-Ni) co-doped nanocomposite films are investigated by performing UV-Vis (250 nm–700 nm) spectrophotometer measurements. We found that as the (Fe-Ni) concentration level is steadily increased, transmittance of the undoped ZnO thin films is decreased. Remarkably, refractive index of undoped ZnO thin films is found to exhibit values extending from 1.55 to1.88 that would increase as (Fe-Ni) concentration is increased.

Nanostructured Al and Fe co-doped ZnO thin films for enhanced ammonia detection

Pure and Al, Fe doped/co-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were prepared using spray pyrolysis technique with optimised deposition parameters. Micro-structural properties of the films were carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy. XRD results have shown that the deposited thin films were polycrystalline in nature with Wurtize structure. Crystallite size was determined and it was found to be decreased with single dopants and increased while co-doping in the zinc oxide matrix. Morphological studies have been studied by using Atomic Force Microscopy and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy. They have clearly shown that the deposited thin films are agglomerated spherical particles with uniform distribution. Optical properties of the films were measured by UV–Vis spectrophotometer. Optical band gap was determined using Touc plot. Gas sensing characterization of pure and doped/co-doped ZnO thin films were carried out at room temperature in static liquid distribution method towards different gases such as acetone, ethanol, xylene and ammonia. Response and recovery times were also calculated and reported.

Physical properties of Cu and Dy co-doped ZnO thin films prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering for hybrid organic/inorganic electronic devices

Copper (Cu) and dysprosium (Dy) co-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were fabricated by radio frequency magnetron sputtering (RF-magnetron sputtering) using a homemade target having the atomic percentage of Cu and Dy of 1%, onto optical glass substrates and quartz substrates. The structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of fabricated ZnO:(Cu, Dy) structures were analyzed and discussed. It was found that all samples have hexagonal Würtzite structure. Optical transmission measurements indicate values larger than 75% in the 400–2500 nm ranges. The current-voltage characteristics of hybrid heterojunctions based on ZnO:(Cu, Dy) and poly(3-hexylthiophene-2.5-diyl) (P3HT) or copper (II) phthalocyanine (CuPc) thin films were acquired in the dark, in ambient atmosphere, and they exhibit the typical diode behavior, almost free of electrical hysteresis.

The Effect of RF Power on the Properties of Gallium and Aluminium Co-doped Zinc Oxide (GAZO) Thin Films

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy and spectrophotometry were used to study the effect of RF power on the properties of gallium and aluminium co-doped zinc oxide (GAZO) thin films for optoelectronic device fabrication. Two peaks appeared in the XPS spectra of the Zn 2p core-level at 1045 and 1022 eV, and these were assigned to $${\text{Zn}}~2{{\text{p}}_{1/2}}$$ and $${\text{Zn}}~2{{\text{p}}_{3/2}}$$ , respectively. The O 1s core-level revealed peaks at 530 and 531 eV which indicated the presence of two different forms of oxygen. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the films’ hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure and revealed the presence of few defects and negligible residual tensile stress. Spectral dependence of the refractive index was analyzed on the basis of the Cauchy’s dispersion model and the Wemple and DiDomenico (WDD) single oscillator model. Low refractive indices (1.6–2.0) and nearly zero extinction coefficients were obtained in the visible region (400–700 nm), indicating the high transparency nature of the GAZO thin films. The optical band gap decreased with increasing RF power, in accordance with the Burstein–Moss effect. Low Urbach energy values were obtained at low RF power, indicating less structural disorder. The free carrier concentration to effective mass ratio $$({N_c}{\text{/}}{m^*})$$ , plasma frequency $$({\omega _P})$$ and zero frequency dielectric constant $$({\varepsilon _\infty })$$ were determined. Films deposited at 150 W exhibited the optimum optical properties, desirable for optoelectronic application.

Radio Frequency Sputter Deposition of Ga and F Co-Doped ZnO Thin Films: Effects of Substrate Temperature

Doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films can be used as transparent conducting electrodes for various optoelectronic device such as flat panel displays andphotovoltaic cells. The present study investigates the effect of substrate temperature on Ga and F co-doped ZnO (GFZO) thin films.The GFZO thin films were deposited on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering in CF4/Ar atmosphere with a ZnO:Ga2O3 (3 wt%) target. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the samples have been observed and analyzed by x-ray diffraction, field emissionscanning electron microscopy, Hall measurements, and UV-visible spectrophotometry. All the GFZO thin films showed the highly c-axis-oriented phase and their average visible transmittances were over 91%. The electrical resistivity of the samples significantly decreased by an order of magnitude to 6.47×10−4Ω-cm as the substrate temperature raised from room temperature to 200 °C. The maximum carrier concentration of 6.10×1020 cm-3 and Hall mobility of 15.4 cm2/V-s were obtained at the optimum substrate temperature at 200 °C. The optical bandgap of the GFZO films has been widened from 3.388 to 3.620 eV with the increase of the substrate temperature. The findings show the developed GFZO thin filmprepared at the higher substrate temperature haveeffectively improved optoelectronic properties andare potentially able to applications in variousoptoelectronic devices.

Rare earth Eu3+ co-doped AZO thin films prepared by nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique for optoelectronics

Rare earth element (i.e.) europium co-doped aluminum zinc oxide (Eu:AZO) thin films were deposited on microscope glass slides by nebulizer spray pyrolysis with different Eu-doping concentrations (0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5%). The deposited films were investigated using X-ray diffraction, AFM, EDAX, FT-Raman, UV–visible, PL, and Hall effect measurements. X-ray confirmed the incorporation of aluminum and europium ions into the ZnO structure. All films have polycrystalline nature with hexagonal wurtzite structure at (002) direction. Topological depictions exhibited minimum surface roughness and low film thickness for pristine AZO thin film. EDAX study authorizes the existence of Zn, O, Al, and Eu in Eu: AZO thin films. Raman spectra exhibited the characteristic of ZnO-wurtzite structure (E2-high) mode at 447 cm−1. The deposited film showed high optical transmittance of ~90% in visible region, and the direct energy gap was around 3.30 eV for pristine AZO thin film. The PL spectra emitted a powerful UV emission situated at 388 nm, and it indicates that the film has good optical quality. The obtained large carrier concentration and less resistivity values are 4.42 × 1021 cm−3 and 3.95 × 10−4 Ω cm, respectively, for 1.5% Eu-doped AZO thin film. The calculated figure of merit value is 17.29 × 10−3 (Ω/sq)−1, which is more suitable for the optoelectronic device.