Optical and electrical properties of n-ZnAgAuO/p-Si heterojunction diodes

Abstract

Chemical synthesis of nanostructured materials has nowadays attracted significant interest for a number of electronic and optoelectronic applications. In this regard, the influence of co-doping on the electrical characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) was systematically investigated using noble metals such as silver (Ag) and gold (Au). The doped nanostructures were actually synthesized by a simple wet chemical route and studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron microscopic tools to validate the successful incorporation of metal ions and their other structural and morphological characteristics. The optical band gaps of the processed materials were further estimated using the Tauc's plot. p-n junctions were then fabricated using a colloidal dispersion of the obtained samples via spray pyrolysis on p-Si. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the fabricated diodes revealed an improved electrical conductivity in the co-doped systems. The findings were justified to the newly generated energy levels in ZnO, which might have acted as trap centers and resulted with the downward shift in their Fermi level.