Physical properties of ZnO:B:Ce nanofiber like thin films prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique

ZnO films have various application areas such as solar cells, transparent electrodes, chemical sensors and diodes. There have been many studies focused on the development of the physical properties of such a popular material in technology. One of the alternative ways is to dope different elements to ZnO films. In this work, undoped and boron and cerium co-doped ZnO (ZnO:B:Ce) thin films have been prepared at 300 +/- 10 degrees C by using Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis (USP) technique and optical, structural, surface and luminescence properties of the films have been investigated. Microstructural properties of the films have been carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. The structural parameters have been identified and the crystalline nature of the films has been confirmed by XRD patterns. Raman spectroscopy showed that the intensity of the dominant 2LO peak increased. The morphology of the thin films is studied using FESEM technique and the change in the morphologies due to doping is evident from the images. FESEM mapping images have been performed to investigate the presence of ZnO nanofiber like structures. The surface properties of the films have been determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and these results indicated that the surface morphology and roughness values have been changed with doping. The optical characteristics have revealed high transmittance values (similar to 60-80%), whereas all the films have exhibited large band gap (Eg = 3.19-3.25 eV). Finally, the effects of Ce doping on the structural, optical, surface and luminescence properties of ZnO:B film have been investigated in detail.