Author(s)

Avanish Kumar Srivastava, Karuppanan Senthil, Melepurath Deepa, Ruchi Gakhar, Jai Shankar Tawale

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We report the systematic changes of nano-scaled features and optical properties in a promising transparent oxide material, namely, Alx (x = 0, 1, 2 and 5%) doped ZnO1-x (AZO). Electron microscopy investigations revealed the alterations at lattice scale depending on the presence of Al-content in ZnO nanostructures. Lattice spacings of 0.26 and 0.28 nm oriented along the (0002) and (10 0) planes, respectively, were attributed to euhedral-and facetted-structures of hexagonal-ZnO. The AZO samples were further characterized by XRD, SEM, UV-vis spectrophotometry, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence studies. It has been shown that at a dopant concentration of 2%Al in ZnO, an optimal balance could be achieved between microstructure and optical properties.

Electron Microscopy, Nanostructures, ZnO, Photoluminescence

A. Srivastava, K. Senthil, M. Deepa, R. Gakhar and J. Tawale, "Modification at Lattice Scale for an Optimized Optical Response of Al_x(ZnO)_1-x Nanostructures," World Journal of Nano Science and Engineering, Vol. 1 No. 1, 2011, pp. 15-19. doi: 10.4236/wjnse.2011.11003.