Influence of Ni dopant on surface morphology of nanostructured ZnO thin films grown by SILAR method

Pure and Nickel (Ni) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films with different concentrations (1%, 3% and 5%) were fabricated using one of the simplest physical deposition processes called Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) method. The physico-chemical properties of the fabricated ZnO and Ni-doped ZnO thin films were characterised using different analytical tools. The crystallise size of the fabricated films was determined from the X-ray Diffraction analysis. The presence of functional groups in the materials was confirmed from the Fourier-Transform Infrared analysis. The changes in the surface morphology and roughness of the films with respect to the addition of Ni dopant as well as an increase in dopant concentration were examined from Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscope. The optical bandgap energy was determined from the UV-Visible spectrometer. The chemical state and the elemental composition were evaluated using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.