Investigation of the structural, optical and electrical properties of Nd-doped ZnO thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis

Neodymium-doped zinc oxide (NZO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by spray pyrolysis technique. X-ray diffraction patterns have shown that both undoped and Nd-doped ZnO films exhibit the hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure with a preferential orientation along [0 0 2] direction. The effective doping concentration has been determined by Rutherford backscattering measurements showing that the neodymium is not incorporated easily into ZnO host matrix. The surface roughness was shown to increase with Nd doping. NZO films are highly transparent in the visible region. The lowest electrical resistivity value of about 4.0 10(-2) Omega cm was obtained for 1% Nd effective doping.