Study of Ultraviolet Irradiation Effect on the ZnO:Tb Thin Films Characteristics

Single phase and highly transparent ZnO:Tb films with a Tb concentration from 0.41 at% up to 0.78 at% were formed on glass and silicon substrates by sol-gel deposition. The influence of ultraviolet radiation on the structural and photoelectric characteristics of n-ZnO:Tb/n-Si structures has been studied. The appearance of a photoelectric effect under the influence of a bias voltage and UV radiation (405 and 278 nm) was established, with an increase in photo effect when irradiated with shorter wavelength UV radiation (278 nm). It was shown that the concentration of the Tb3+ dopant is the determining factor for increasing the UV photosensitivity of the structures. The experimentally established selective sensitivity of n-ZnO:Tb/n-Si structures to UV radiation with a wavelength of less than 405 nm demonstrates the possibility of their use in UV radiation detectors or sun-blind detectors.