Structural and linear and nonlinear optical properties of Zn1-xAlxO (0≤x≤0.10) thin films fabricated via pulsed laser deposition technique

The effect of Al doping on linear and nonlinear optical properties of pulsed laser deposited (PLD) Zn1-xAlxO (AZO) thin films is reported. The increase in 002 peak in X-ray diffraction pattern up to x = 0.05 is indicative of improvement in the wurtzite phase and was also confirmed by enhancement in E-2 (high) peak at 438 cm(-1) of Raman spectra. The increase in the blue shift in the band gap up to x = 0.05 suggests the Burstein Moss effect. The red shift in the band gap for x>0.05 can be interpreted due to the band gap renormalization as a result of many body interaction effects. The two photon absorption coefficients (beta) and nonlinear refractive indices (n(2)) measured via z-scan measurement were found to be in the range of 3.4-8.0 cm/W and (1.0-5.2) x 10(-4) cm(2)/W for x = 0.00-0.10 respectively. An attempt is made to correlate the linear and nonlinear optical behavior and crystal structure as a function of level of Aluminum doping (x). (C) 2016 Optical Society of America