Thoughtful investigation of ZnO doped Mg and co-doped Mg/Mn, Mg/Mn/F thin films: A first study

Pure ZnO, Zn0.97Mg0.03O, Zn0.96Mg0.03Mn0.01O and Zn0.90Mg0.03Mn0.01F0.06O nanocrystalline thin films were successfully elaborated on glass substrates using spray pyrolysis method. Structural proprieties were mainly investigated by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–Visible spectrophotometry and Hall effect measurement technique. The XRD spectra revealed the preferred orientation of the prepared polycrystalline along (002) reflection and showed the hexagonal wurtzite structure. A decrease in the crystallinity of Zn0.90Mg0.03Mn0.01F0.06O sample has been observed from 17.206 to 13.489 nm due to the change in its ionic size. SEM images highlighted the homogeneity of the prepared samples surface and proved their nanostructure morphology. For the doped 3%Mg, 1%Mn and 6%F polycrystalline, the obtained transmission spectra were higher than that of pure ZnO and a shift towards the lower wavelengths with a band gap of 3.31 eV has been observed for Zn0.97Mg0.03O film. A low electrical resistivity of about 1.33 × 10−3 Ω.cm was measured for Zn0.90Mg0.03Mn0.01F0.06O thin film. Also, its photoelectric performance was proven to be significantly higher than that of the previously reported ZnO doped and co-doped thin films, which makes it a remarkable candidate for several optoelectronic devices.