XRD and photoluminescence studies of pure and In2O3 doped ZnO nanophases

ZnO oxide is a promising material for optoelectronics because of its wide and direct gap (Eg=3.4 eV). Pure and doped zinc oxide powders of various grain sizes have been synthesized by vaporisation-condensation method using a solar furnace. The initial powders contained from 0 to 5 In2O3 mol %. X-ray diffraction technique (XRD) has been used to measure the lattice parameter and the grain size as a function of the composition, the results show the appearance of the spinel phase Zn5In2O8 in the micopowders and the decrease of the grain size of nanopowders as the In concentration increases for all considered compositions. The photoluminescence spectra revealed the presence of two main transitions at 3.31 and 3.36 eV, a shift of the excitonic peaks towards the lower energies, a drastic reduction of the exciton bound to donor emission from the doped material and a large broadening of the excitonic emission in In doped nanopowder.