Synthesis, Crystallography, Microstructure, Crystal defects and Optical Properties of (Fe-Ni) co-doped ZnO Thin Films prepared by sol–gel technique*

Zinc oxide (ZnO) and Iron-Nickel Fe-Ni co-doped ZnO thin films have been doped coated in glass sustrate using Sol Gel technique.
In addition, the microstructural properties and crystal imperfections of these samples were studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) has been utilized to carry out these studies. XRD analysis revealed that these samples have a polycrystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure and nanometric dimensions. XRD-line profile analysis was used to study the microstructure and crystal defects of these nanoparticles. Crystallite size and microstrain were estimated using the Williamson–Hall method. It was obsereved that the crystallites sizes have increased as Fe-Ni concentrations were increased. However, strain in the thin films has decreased upon increasing Fe-Ni concentrations. Interestingly, the microstrain has decreased upon increasing Fe-Ni concentrations. The optical properties of the thin films were investigated using UV-Vis spectrometer measurements. The transmittance of the undoped ZnO was decreased upon increasing the concentration of Fe-Ni.