Structural, nano texture, and optical study of Vanadium-doped zinc oxide thin films for blue LEDs

IF 2.3 4区材料科学 Q2 MATERIALS SCIENCE, CERAMICS

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology Pub Date : 2024-09-06 DOI:10.1007/s10971-024-06517-3

Apoorva Katoch, Navneet Kaur, Davinder Kumar, Balraj Singh, Vandana Shinde, Raminder Kaur

{"title":"Structural, nano texture, and optical study of Vanadium-doped zinc oxide thin films for blue LEDs","authors":"Apoorva Katoch, Navneet Kaur, Davinder Kumar, Balraj Singh, Vandana Shinde, Raminder Kaur","doi":"10.1007/s10971-024-06517-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The judicious use of transition metals, notably vanadium (V), is critical to improving zinc oxide (ZnO) photoelectric performance. This research reveals the transforming effect of different V doping levels on zinc oxide (V:ZnO) thin films precisely manufactured using a sol-gel dip-coating process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals the evolving characteristics of the films, revealing a shift towards increased structural coherence and preferred orientation as V doping concentrations increase. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and its nano texture fractal studies reveal a gradual refinement in the texture and arrangement of V:ZnO films with increased doping levels. The effective V doping inside the ZnO thin films is confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Furthermore, the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption coefficient increases when the Urbach energy (E<sub>U</sub>) increases and the energy gap (E<sub>g</sub>) decreases. Notably, V:ZnO displays exceptional emissions in the intrinsic excitation region at 300 <i>nm</i>and within the defect emission range of 380–650 <i>nm</i> at 3% dopingmaking it a promising candidate for blue LED applications. However, care is advised since extensive doping may impair the photoluminescence properties of ZnO. Urbach tails in weak absorption region decreased with increasing % of V in ZnO. Urbach energies (E<sub>u</sub>) were in the 0.32–0.52 meV range for as-deposited and annealed films. This was used to account for the disorder of the films—an inverse relation was observed between Urbach energy and optical band energy as a result of doping. Research findings presented in this work give significant information on the complexities of V doping in ZnO, paving the way for advanced optoelectronic applications, particularly in blue LEDs.</p><h3>Graphical Abstract</h3><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology","volume":"112 2","pages":"332 - 347"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology","FirstCategoryId":"88","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10971-024-06517-3","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MATERIALS SCIENCE, CERAMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The judicious use of transition metals, notably vanadium (V), is critical to improving zinc oxide (ZnO) photoelectric performance. This research reveals the transforming effect of different V doping levels on zinc oxide (V:ZnO) thin films precisely manufactured using a sol-gel dip-coating process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals the evolving characteristics of the films, revealing a shift towards increased structural coherence and preferred orientation as V doping concentrations increase. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and its nano texture fractal studies reveal a gradual refinement in the texture and arrangement of V:ZnO films with increased doping levels. The effective V doping inside the ZnO thin films is confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Furthermore, the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption coefficient increases when the Urbach energy (E_U) increases and the energy gap (E_g) decreases. Notably, V:ZnO displays exceptional emissions in the intrinsic excitation region at 300 nmand within the defect emission range of 380–650 nm at 3% dopingmaking it a promising candidate for blue LED applications. However, care is advised since extensive doping may impair the photoluminescence properties of ZnO. Urbach tails in weak absorption region decreased with increasing % of V in ZnO. Urbach energies (E_u) were in the 0.32–0.52 meV range for as-deposited and annealed films. This was used to account for the disorder of the films—an inverse relation was observed between Urbach energy and optical band energy as a result of doping. Research findings presented in this work give significant information on the complexities of V doping in ZnO, paving the way for advanced optoelectronic applications, particularly in blue LEDs.

Graphical Abstract

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

用于蓝光 LED 的掺钒氧化锌薄膜的结构、纳米纹理和光学研究

合理使用过渡金属，特别是钒（V），对于提高氧化锌（ZnO）的光电性能至关重要。这项研究揭示了不同钒掺杂水平对采用溶胶-凝胶浸涂工艺精确制造的氧化锌（V:ZnO）薄膜的转化效应。X 射线衍射 (XRD) 揭示了薄膜不断变化的特性，显示出随着 V 掺杂浓度的增加，薄膜的结构一致性和优先取向性也在增加。扫描电子显微镜（SEM）及其纳米纹理分形研究显示，随着掺杂水平的提高，氧化锌薄膜的纹理和排列逐渐细化。能量色散光谱（EDS）证实了氧化锌薄膜中有效的钒掺杂。此外，当乌尔巴赫能（EU）增加、能隙（Eg）减小时，紫外可见（UV-Vis）吸收系数也会增加。值得注意的是，在掺杂 3% 时，V:ZnO 在 300 纳米的本征激发区域和 380-650 纳米的缺陷发射范围内显示出卓越的发射性能，使其成为蓝光 LED 应用的理想候选材料。然而，由于大量掺杂可能会损害氧化锌的光致发光特性，因此应谨慎使用。随着氧化锌中 V 含量的增加，弱吸收区的 Urbach 尾随也随之减少。淀积和退火薄膜的厄巴赫能量（Eu）在 0.32-0.52 meV 范围内。这可以用来解释薄膜的无序性--由于掺杂，观察到厄巴赫能和光带能之间存在反比关系。这项研究成果提供了有关氧化锌中掺杂 V 的复杂性的重要信息，为先进的光电应用，尤其是蓝光 LED 的应用铺平了道路。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology 工程技术-材料科学：硅酸盐

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

4.00%

发文量

280

审稿时长

2.1 months

期刊介绍： The primary objective of the Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (JSST), the official journal of the International Sol-Gel Society, is to provide an international forum for the dissemination of scientific, technological, and general knowledge about materials processed by chemical nanotechnologies known as the "sol-gel" process. The materials of interest include gels, gel-derived glasses, ceramics in form of nano- and micro-powders, bulk, fibres, thin films and coatings as well as more recent materials such as hybrid organic-inorganic materials and composites. Such materials exhibit a wide range of optical, electronic, magnetic, chemical, environmental, and biomedical properties and functionalities. Methods for producing sol-gel-derived materials and the industrial uses of these materials are also of great interest.