Advanced Morphological, Structural, and Optical Study of Pure and Doped Zinc Oxide Thin Films for Transparent Electronics Applications

Present work reports on the sol-gel synthesis of pure zinc oxide (ZnO) and 1% vanadium (V) doped zinc oxide (V:ZnO) thin films. Characterization of the fabricated thin films was carried out to study the structural, morphological, elemental, and optical properties. XRD analysis confirms strain is created due to V doping. Morphological results show that V:ZnO thin films are much smoother and homogeneous in comparison to that pure ZnO thin films. The doping of V ion in the ZnO crystal shows a decrease in Urbach energy, and CIE chromaticity results show that V:ZnO emits dark blue color. The statistical and fractal analysis reveals that 1% V doping enhances uniform and smooth texture. Overall results reveal that V:ZnO thin films have been used in transparent electronics and as blue LED.