Noticeable impact of Er doping on structural, vibrational, optical, dielectric and electrical parameters of flash combustion synthesized NiO NPs for optoelectronic applications

A facile synthesis of erbium doped nickel oxide (Er@NiO) was accomplished via combustion route at 550 degrees C within 2 h. Cubic phase of all Er@NiO samples was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld refinement methods. All XRD profiles were fitted well by Rietveld. XRD data was used to determine the values of size, dislocations, strain and the size was reduced from 26 to 8 nm on rising the Er content in NiO. Vibrational spectroscopy also approved the synthesis of NiO without any impurity content at all Er concentrations. The composition of Ni, O and Er was evaluated by EDX and their uniform dispersal in final product was confirmed by SEM e-mapping. Further, SEM study confirms very compact nanostructure of final products and the size reduction was observed by Er content. Kubelka-Munk methodology was employed to attain the bandgap of all Er@NiO NPs and lies between 3.17 and 3.50 eV. The epsilon' values are lies between 65-115 at 3 kHz and 18-36 at 3 MHz, however, it was higher for 5 wt% Er@NiO NPs compare to other at 3 kHz and lower after 7 kHz. The ac conductivity and conduction behaviour were also inveterate and conferred.