Optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance

Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors (DMS) are being actively studied as a major step towards the realization of spintronic devices. However, to obtain the DMS with ferromagnetic behaviour at room temperature is the main obstacle in the fabrication of spintronic devices. This obstacle has prompted signif...

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Main Author: Che Ani, Noorhidayah
Format: Thesis
Language:English
English
English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/1/24p%20NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI.pdf
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/2/NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/3/NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI%20WATERMARK.pdf
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author Che Ani, Noorhidayah
author_facet Che Ani, Noorhidayah
author_sort Che Ani, Noorhidayah
collection UTHM
description Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors (DMS) are being actively studied as a major step towards the realization of spintronic devices. However, to obtain the DMS with ferromagnetic behaviour at room temperature is the main obstacle in the fabrication of spintronic devices. This obstacle has prompted significant research efforts aimed at exploring new DMS. In this research, Gadolinium (Gd) was doped with Zinc Oxide (ZnO) to explore the feasibility of making new DMS. The Gd-doped ZnO (Zn1-xGdxO) was synthesized using the sol-gel spin coating technique. Parameters, such as the type of solvent, annealing environment and Gd contents, were varied in order to optimize the structural and magnetic properties. The optimum properties were obtained from a prepared solution using ethanol solvents, annealed in an Ar-environment with 8 % Gd contents. The structural, surface topology, optical, electrical and magnetic properties of the film were studied in detail. Structural studies revealed that the film had a hexagonal wurtzite structure. Surface topologies showed that the film had a smooth and uniform surface. In addition, the film was also highly transparent within visible range with optical transmittance of approximately ~ 90 %. The electrical analysis revealed that the resistivity and carrier concentration was about 3.17 x 10-3  cm and 8.27 x 1014 cm-3, respectively. The magnetic studies showed that the film was ferromagnetic at room temperature with a magnetization of 0.0423 emu/g. The effect of ferromagnetic Gd-doped ZnO film on device performance was demonstrated by fabricating the Spin-Polarized Organic Solar Cell (Spin-OSC). It was found that the ferromagnetic Zn0.92Gd0.08O film contributed immensely to the performance of OSC. The result showed that the efficiency of Spin-OSC (0.16 %) was higher than conventional-OSC (0.04 %). Thus, this proved the possibility of spintronics in optoelectronic applications, especially in solar cells.
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spelling uthm.eprints-8432021-09-06T04:22:02Z http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/ Optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance Che Ani, Noorhidayah TK7800-8360 Electronics Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors (DMS) are being actively studied as a major step towards the realization of spintronic devices. However, to obtain the DMS with ferromagnetic behaviour at room temperature is the main obstacle in the fabrication of spintronic devices. This obstacle has prompted significant research efforts aimed at exploring new DMS. In this research, Gadolinium (Gd) was doped with Zinc Oxide (ZnO) to explore the feasibility of making new DMS. The Gd-doped ZnO (Zn1-xGdxO) was synthesized using the sol-gel spin coating technique. Parameters, such as the type of solvent, annealing environment and Gd contents, were varied in order to optimize the structural and magnetic properties. The optimum properties were obtained from a prepared solution using ethanol solvents, annealed in an Ar-environment with 8 % Gd contents. The structural, surface topology, optical, electrical and magnetic properties of the film were studied in detail. Structural studies revealed that the film had a hexagonal wurtzite structure. Surface topologies showed that the film had a smooth and uniform surface. In addition, the film was also highly transparent within visible range with optical transmittance of approximately ~ 90 %. The electrical analysis revealed that the resistivity and carrier concentration was about 3.17 x 10-3  cm and 8.27 x 1014 cm-3, respectively. The magnetic studies showed that the film was ferromagnetic at room temperature with a magnetization of 0.0423 emu/g. The effect of ferromagnetic Gd-doped ZnO film on device performance was demonstrated by fabricating the Spin-Polarized Organic Solar Cell (Spin-OSC). It was found that the ferromagnetic Zn0.92Gd0.08O film contributed immensely to the performance of OSC. The result showed that the efficiency of Spin-OSC (0.16 %) was higher than conventional-OSC (0.04 %). Thus, this proved the possibility of spintronics in optoelectronic applications, especially in solar cells. 2017-09 Thesis NonPeerReviewed text en http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/1/24p%20NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI.pdf text en http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/2/NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf text en http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/3/NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI%20WATERMARK.pdf Che Ani, Noorhidayah (2017) Optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance. Masters thesis, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.
spellingShingle TK7800-8360 Electronics
Che Ani, Noorhidayah
Optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance
title Optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance
title_full Optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance
title_fullStr Optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance
title_full_unstemmed Optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance
title_short Optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance
title_sort optimization of gadolinium doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance
topic TK7800-8360 Electronics
url http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/1/24p%20NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI.pdf
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/2/NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/3/NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI%20WATERMARK.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT cheaninoorhidayah optimizationofgadoliniumdopedzincoxidefilmsfordilutedmagneticsemiconductoranditseffectsonorganicsolarcellperformance