Synthesis and characterization of Pr and Nb doped ZnO by spray pyrolysis technique

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a n-type semiconductor material which has a wide direct band gap of energy ~3 eV. Dopant in ZnO nanostructures is an effective way to improve ZnO’s structural properties in various applications.In the present study Pr and Nb doped ZnO were synthesized on glass substrate by using chemical spray pyrolysis at 450oC temperature. The concentration of impurities is varied from (0% to 4 mol %) for (Pr-ZnO) and (1% to 4 mol%) for (Nb-ZnO). The synthesized thin films are characterized by X-Ray diffraction, which shows hexagonal structure with 57nm crystalline size for optimized concentration of Pr and it is indexed using JCPDS card number (01-079-0206) and for Nb doped ZnO JCPDS card number (01-079- 0208). Due to their excellent optical and electrical properties prepared films are used as a transparent window layer and electrodes in solar cell