The influence of ni doping on the structural, optical and morphological properties of zno thin films grown by silar method

The influence of Ni doping on the structural, optical and morphological properties of ZnO thin films grown by SILAR method are discussed in detail. The diffraction XRD patterns reveal good crystalline quality without any appreciable changes from pure ZnO films and are genuinely polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure. The observed ‘d’ spacing values are in good agreement with the standard values of ZnO. X-ray diffraction results provide the evidence that Ni is incorporated into the ZnO lattice at Zn site. Also ZnO films with (002) texturing is a promising candidate for solar cells, photo detectors, light-emitting devices, thin film transistors and surface acoustic wave guide applications. The optical properties revealed a decrease of band gap with Ni doping. The morphological changes evinced are also reported. The studies reveal that microstructure and optical properties may be tailored with a limited extent of Ni doping by SILAR mthod.