Structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of sol-gel derived sb-doped ZnO thin films annealed under different atmospheres

Herein, undoped and antimony (Sb)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films are prepared by a sol-gel spin-coating method. The influence of different annealing atmospheres including nitrogen and argon on pertinent properties of the prepared films is scrutinized. Structural, optical, morphological, and electrical properties of all annealed films are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and current-voltage measurement. The XRD results exhibit that the films possess ZnO hexagonal wurtzite without impurity. The deterioration in the crystallinity of the film is highly influenced by Sb dopant and annealing atmosphere exhibiting the decrease in nanoparticle size after annealing in nitrogen, argon atmosphere, and upon doping. XPS results confirm that Sb${}^{3+}$ is well incorporated in ZnO lattice and the shift of XPS spectra in the films annealed in nitrogen atmosphere indicates nitrogen bonding with zinc. The PL spectra exhibit blueshift of near band edge emission due to the Sb dopant substituting in Zn site in ZnO lattice and red-infrared emission induced by Sb dopant. The decrease in electrical resistance of ZnO film can be obtained by Sb doping and annealing in nitrogen atmosphere. (© 2020 Wiley‐VCH GmbH)