Effect of annealing on the structures and properties of Al and F co-doped ZnO nanostructures

Al-F co-doped ZnO (AFZO) nanocrystals were successfully synthesized onto glass substrates by the sal-gel method and the structure and morphology of the films as a function of annealing temperature were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that all the films were polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and exhibited a c-axis preferred orientation. The XPS study confirmed that co-doping ions are successfully incorporated into the ZnO nanostructure. AFZO thin films annealed at 500 degrees C exhibited the lowest resistivity due to the higher carrier concentration and mobility. The knowledge acquired in this work is important for the AFZO thin films with applications in optoelectronic devices. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.