Influence of Sn4+ ion on band gap tailoring, optical, structural and dielectric behaviors of ZnO nanoparticles

II-VI semiconductors are being attracted due to excellent optical and electronic behaviors when they utilize for device fabrication. Among II-VI semiconductors, Zinc oxide finds cutting-edge results for various applications with a lack of toxicity. Sn4+ ion incorporated ZnO nanoparticles have been synthesized using a soft chemical route and characterized for the investigation of properties like structural, morphological, elemental, optical and dielectric responses. The prepared ZnO had a hexagonal structure and the particles size reduces by the influence of Sn4+ ion: this reduction rate increases for the increase of doping ratio. The average particles size was estimated within 24-34 nm. TEM, HRTEM and SEM results corroborate the structural aspects noticed using XRPD study. UV-vis study results showed that a blue shift on the optical band gap was received for high doping concentration (10 at.%) of Sn4+. PL peaks were observed in the UV region for 0 at.% and 2 at.% Sn4+ doped ZnO nanoparticles, and the peak position was shifted from UV to violet and blue region for 10 at.% Sn4+ doped ZnO nanoparticles. The dielectric permittivity was reduced due to the addition of Sn4+ ions. The AC conductivity was increased for higher doping concentrations. The Sn4+ ion incorporated ZnO nanoparticles shall be useful for various applications including LED fabrication for blue emission and also it is suitable to act as a buffer material in solar panel. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Research on synthesizing ZnO nanoparticles doped with Sn4+ ions reveals structural, optical, and dielectric properties of the materials. Results show that the doping of Sn4+ induces a blue shift in the optical band gap, reduces particle size, with the reduction rate increasing for higher doping ratios.