Investigating the Optical and Structural Characteristics of ZnO:Er nano-layers Prepared by Sol-Gel Method

Authors

1 Iran Telecommunication Research Center

2 Department of Technical and Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University

3 School of Materials and Metallurgy, Iran University of Science and Technology

Abstract

Er doped ZnO layers have many applications in optical communications. Transparent Er-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on soda-lime glass substrates by sol-gel method. To optimize the properties, different amounts of Er dopant and temperatures were used. The prepared nano-layers were characterized by XRD and spectrophotometery. All coatings showed ZnO hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure with 14-19nm particle size and very good transmittance (80%) in the range of 750-1750 nm. The maximum optical transmission was achieved by ZnO film doped with 3.0 wt.% Er and post-heat-treated in air at 550C.

Keywords


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