Effect of solute concentration on the structural, optical and surface properties of zinc oxide thin films

Zinc Oxide is a versatile material with unique properties, finds variety of application in microelectronics and photonics associated technologies. Zinc Oxide thin films have been developed by Sol-gel spin coating method. Zinc Oxide thin films have been deposited on to mineral glass substrate under optimized coating conditions, using the sol solution containing different solute concentration viz., 0.27, 0.36, 0.46 and 0.56 mol%. The crystallographic parameters have been evaluated from the X ray diffraction data and its variation with solute concentration is investigated. Optical constants and band gap energy of the Zinc Oxide thin films have been determined from the transmittance measurement in the Ultra violet-Visible region. Higher optical transmittance of 88.3% have been observed for the Zinc oxide thin film coated with the sol solution containing 3.6 mol% of solute. The results of atomic force microscopy and Photoluminescence studies of the ZnO were reported. The influences of solute concentration of the Zinc Oxide sol solution on the structural, optical and surface properties of the spin coated Zinc Oxide thin films have been analyzed and elaborately discussed. This study aimed to develop device quality Zinc Oxide thin films for photovoltaic applications.