Structure and Morphology of ZnO Films Co-Doped With Al and Rare Earth Deposited by Spray Coating Technique

"In this work, the influence of co-doping with Al and rare earth ions (RE= Er, Gd, Nd) on the structure and morphology of zinc oxide (ZnO) films is presented. Spray coated thin films were obtained using a mixture of nitrate substances diluted in equal quantities of distilled water and ethanol. The coated films were deposited on quartz glass and Si(100) substrates using a constant concentration of 0.15M, a temperature of 210ºC, pressure of 2 bar and 10 minutes time of deposition. After this step, the coated films were annealed at 3 different temperatures (600ºC, 800ºC and 1000ºC) for 5 minutes each. The influence of dopant and annealing treatment upon crystallographic structure of the films was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Microstructural and surface analysis from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and AFM measurements evidenced that the type of doping and the annealing treatment modify the surface morphology of the films. Keywords: spray coating technique, AZO-RE thin films, XRD, SEM, AFM. "