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The document discusses the fabrication and characterization of a Zinc Oxide (ZnO) / porous-silicon photovoltaic device designed for detecting fast ultraviolet (UV) radiation pulses. The study highlights the material's optical properties, including high UV absorption and transparency in the visible range, as well as the successful detection of ultra-fast nitrogen laser pulses at 385 nm. Key findings include the energy gap of ZnO being approximately 3.1 eV and the influence of nanostructures on the material's electrical properties.

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Tunde Kovacs
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3 views

6

The document discusses the fabrication and characterization of a Zinc Oxide (ZnO) / porous-silicon photovoltaic device designed for detecting fast ultraviolet (UV) radiation pulses. The study highlights the material's optical properties, including high UV absorption and transparency in the visible range, as well as the successful detection of ultra-fast nitrogen laser pulses at 385 nm. Key findings include the energy gap of ZnO being approximately 3.1 eV and the influence of nanostructures on the material's electrical properties.

Uploaded by

Tunde Kovacs
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Optical properties of ZnO nanocrystallines photovoltaic UV detector

Abdullah M. Suhail, Sudad S. Ahmeda, Omar A. Ibrahim, Eman K. Hassan


Department of Physics, college of Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq

a
[email protected]

Abstract. Zinc Oxide (ZnO) /porous-silicon photovoltaic device was fabricated to detect fast ultraviolet (UV) radiation pulses. The
photovoltaic UV detector, based on the deposition of the ZnO wide-band gap semiconductor material on nanospikes silicon layer to
form a heterojunction, has fast response time to the UV pulses. The current voltage characteristic, the capacitance variation with the
applied voltage and the ideality factor of the heterojunction were studied. The operation of the detector under the reverse bias of -2
volts has successfully detected an ultra-fast nitrogen laser pulses at 385 (nm).

1. Introduction

Zinc oxide ZnO is one of transparent conducting oxide TCO materials. The ZnO thin films
attract much interest because of typical properties such as high chemical and mechanical stability in
hydrogen plasma, high optical transparency in the visible and near-infrared region[1]. Referring to
these properties ZnO is a promising material for electronic and optoelectronic applications such as
solar cells, gas sensors, liquid crystal displays, heat mirrors, and surface acoustic wave devices[2,3].
In recent years various methods of preparation of the ZnO nano film have been tried for developing
thin films owning to their many practical applications. The common methods were the chemical
vapor deposition [4], reactive evaporation [5], rf magnetron sputtering [6],, spray pyrolysis [7],
molecular beam epitaxy [8], pulsed laser deposition [9]

2. Sample preparation and measurements


In this work, the ZnO thin films are deposited on glass substrates heated to 400°C. The spray
solution is prepared by mixing Zinc acetate Zn(CH3COO)2.2H2O, isopropyl alcohol with purity
95% and distillated water (volume ratio 3 to 1) respectively at 0.2 M. The prepared mixture
Zn(CH3COO)2.2H2O + H2O was spray. The spraying time was controlled by controlling a
solenoid valve. In order to get a film of proper thickness many runs of spraying are required. The
experimental parameters which control the homogeneity and thickness of the film are the spraying
time, the height of the atomizer and the pressure of the nitrogen gas. The optimum experimental
condition for obtaining homogeneous ZnO thin film at 400°C are 3 sec spraying and 25 cm high of
the atomizer. This technique could be utilized for preparing ZnO or other sample species. The
crystalline structure of the film was studied by XRD using X-ray diffraction system. The absorption
and transmission spectra of the sample are recorded using Shemadzu UV160/UV-Visible recorder
spectrophotometer. The photoluminescence spectrum was found using spectrofluorometer recorder.
The X-ray diffraction pattern shows that the ZnO thin films are polycrystalline with main peak of
index 022 centered at 34.4° on scale of 2θ. The Hall measurements show that the film is n-type
semiconductor with sheet Hall coefficient of about –1.195 m2/c. The resistivity of the ZnO film was
found to be about 6.368Ω.cm with a mobility of about 1.877×10–1 cm2 /VS. The sheet carrier
concentration was measured to be about –1.044×1014cm–2, which gives rise to the carriers
concentration in the bulk of about –5.2×1018cm–3.

3. Results
The results show that the material is highly absorbing in the UV region, whereas in the visible
region the material is transparent. Assuming allowed transition, the dependence of (αhυ)1/2 on (hυ)
is calculated using Tauce Equation. The extrapolation of the linear part of the plot to (αhυ)1/2 = 0
gives rise to estimate the energy gap value of the ZnO material. The value of the energy gap was
found to be about 3.1 eV. The transmission of the film shows that the film is transparent in the
visible region and is absorbing in the UV region. The transmission in the visible region was found
to be higher than 90% with sharp ultraviolet cut-off at approximately 380 nm. The
photoluminescence spectrum of the thin film was recorded with excitation line of 320 nm. The
measured energy gap from the absorption spectrum and the photoluminescence was found to be
about in the range 3.1-3.28 eV. The morphology of the porous silicon layer is tested by the (SPM)
and the surface image. The nanospikes distribution for ZnO sample of 30 – minute etching time is
nearly uniform and it is of few nanometer heights and of about 10 nm in depth. The formation of the
nanospike layer increased the resistivity of this layer to order of 105 Ω.cm. The increase of
resistivity of the nanospikes layer may be attributed to several reasons, the capturing of the charges
carriers by the traps at the nanospikes, the diffusion of the impurity atoms to the electrolyte, or to
the wall of the pores and may be due to the passivation of the impurity atoms with hydrogen. It can
be noticed from the morphology that the nanocrystallites were formed on the surface of the ZnO
sample deposited on porous silicon. The ZnO film of about 60 nm thickness has been successfully
prepared on a glass substrate using chemical spray pyrolysis technique. The Hall measurements
show that the film has low mobility at room temperature. The recorded photoluminescence declare
two peaks which correspond to the edge-band and the exciton formation. The shrinking of the
energy gap may be referred to the nanostructure of the film and it can be explained as follows: The
morphology of the film shows the formation of different size ZnO nanocrystals. These nano-crystals
are response to the formation of the surface state in the main energy gap. The formation of the
surface state near the conduction band may lead to reduce the energy gap of the sample. This is
because the states are ionized at the room temperature which gives raise to reduction of the energy
gap.

References
[1] A. Sanchez-Juarez, A. Tiburcio-Silver, A. Ortiz, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 52, 301 (1998).
[2] L. Chopra, S. Major, D.K. Panday, Thin Solid Films, 1021,1 (1983).
[3] H. Kim, C.M. Gilmore, Appl. Phys. Lett., 76, 259 (2000).
[4] Y. Natsume, H. Sakata, T. Hirayama, H. Yanagida, J. Appl. Phys., 72, 4203 (1992).
[5] M.A. Martinez, J. Herrero, M.T. Gutierrez, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 45, 75 (1997).
[6] Y.J. Kim, Y.T. Kim, H.K. Yang, J.C. Park, J.I. Han, Y.E. Lee, H.J. Kim, J. Vac. Sci. Technol., A 15, 1103 (1997).
[7] A. Bougrine, A. EL Hichou, M. Addou, J. Ebothe, A. Kachouane, M. Troyon, J. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 80 (2), 438 (2003).
[8] S.J. AN, W.I. Park, G.C. YI, S. CHO, Appl. Phys., A 74, 509 (2002).
[9] V. Craciun, J. Perriere, N. Bassim, R.K. Singh, D. Craciun, J. Spear, Appl. Phys., A 69, S531 (1999).

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