Gadolinium-doped zinc oxide thin films prepared on different substrates by sol-gel spin-coating

Gadolinium (Gd) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were prepared by sol-gel spin-coating technique. The solution was prepared using zinc acetate dihydrate and monoethanolamine (MEA) as a stabilizer. The Gd-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on different substrates; glass, aluminium doped ZnO (AZO), fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) and silicon (Si). The structural and optical properties of Gd-doped ZnO on different substrates were studied using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-ray (FESEM-EDX) and Ultra Violet-Visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis), respectively. Based on the XRD data, the crystallite size of the films was found to be in the range of 12.26 ∼ 22.95 nm, which shows a hexagonal wurtzite structure. Transmittance spectra of films deposited on AZO indicates a clear sinusoidal behavior as compared to samples prepared on glass and FTO. All samples exhibit magnetic properties at room temperature measured by means of Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM).