Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 40 (2015) 99106

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Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mssp

Investigation of characteristics of ZnO:Ga nanocrystalline thin

films with varying dopant content
Mehmet Yilmaz a,b,n
a

Department of Elementary Science, Faculty of Education, Ataturk University, 25240 Erzurum Turkey
Advanced Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, Graduate School of Natural and Applied
Sciences, Ataturk University, 25240 Erzurum Turkey
b

a r t i c l e i n f o

abstract

Available online 10 July 2015

In this study, undoped and Ga doped ZnO thin films were synthesized by the solgel spin
coating technique. The effect of Ga contribution on the structural, morphological and
optical properties of the ZnO thin films was examined. XRD results showed that all films
had a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure with polycrystalline nature. The intensity of the
(002) peak changed with the variable Ga content. The scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) results revealed that the surface morphology of the ZnO thin films was affected by
Ga content. Moreover, it consisted of nanorods as a result of the increased function of the
Ga content. Additionally, the presence of Ga contributions was evaluated by energy
dispersive x-ray (EDX) measurements. Although the transparency and the optical band
gap of the ZnO thin films increased with Ga contribution, Urbach energy values decreased
from 221 meV to 98 meV. In addition, these steepness parameters increased with the
increased Ga content from 0% to 6%. The correlation between structural and optical
properties was investigated and significant consistency was found.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Thin films
ZnO nanoparticles
Solgel process

1. Introduction
Applications-based transparent conductive oxides (TCO),
such as solar cells, transparent electrodes and organic light
emitting diodes, have been studied extensively. Among
TCO's, indium tin oxide (ITO) is very popular because of
its particular properties such as high transmittance in the
visible region and its low resistivity [1]. Owing to the high
cost of ITO, zinc oxide (ZnO) is considered to be a viable
alternative semiconductor. ZnO has a hexagonal wurtzite

n
Correspondence address: Advanced Materials Research Laboratory,
Department of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, Ataturk University,
Erzurum, 25240, Turkey. Tel.: 90 442 231 42 69;
fax: 90 442 236 09 55.
E-mail addresses: mehmetyilmaz@atauni.edu.tr,
yilmazmehmet32@gmail.com

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2015.06.031
1369-8001/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

crystal structure related to space group P63mc. It is defined

as cohering sub-lattices of Zn2 and O2 such that each
Zn2 ion is surrounded with a tetrahedron of O2 ions and
vice-versa [2]. ZnO also has a wide direct band gap (3.37 eV)
and high exciton binding energy (60 meV) [3,4]. In addition
to these features, zinc oxide TCO films exhibit easy doping
characteristics and composite structures which help to
improve optoelectronic properties [5]. The structural, optical and magnetic properties of ZnO, which are the most
important factors for optoelectronic application, can be
varied by doping with different elements [6]. A survey of
the literature indicates that impurity-doped ZnO exhibits
lower resistivity and better stability than undoped ZnO
[7,8]. Among the available metal dopants, group-III elements such as In, Al and Ga are possible options to enhance
the electrical and optical properties of ZnO thin films.
However, potentially toxic effects on humans and the

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M. Yilmaz / Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 40 (2015) 99106

environment are likely to reduce support for In3 [9]. Also,

Al3 shows high reactivity, which may give rise to oxidation
in the course of film growth processing and this is undesirable for TCO applications [10]. With the above mentioned
elements excluded, Ga3 is the most efficient dopant due to
its advantages in being less reactive and more resistant to
oxidation than the Al3 . Also, with its lower diffusivity, it is
less affected by diffusion problems [11]. Moreover, its ionic
and covalent radii (0.62 and 1.26 ) are very close to Zn2
(0.74 and 1.34 ) [12]. Because of these properties, Ga
doped ZnO films have low Madelung energy [13], high
optical transmittance in the visible region and minimal
lattice deformations [14]. Overall, these properties make Ga
a very appealing element for researchers seeking to understand its role in the ZnO crystal matrix. Gomez et al. [15]
synthesized Ga- doped ZnO thin films via the spray pyrolysis technique and their results suggested that the optical
and electrical properties of ZnO thin films were improved
by Ga contributions. Babar et al. [16] reported that Ga
doping leads to a remarkable increase in the optical
transmittance of ZnO films and it exhibits the highest figure
of merit. To our current knowledge, there have been no
reports to date including statistical information of Gadoped ZnO thin films obtained by the solgel spin coating
technique. In this context, we believe that our study will
contribute to this field.
Ga-doped ZnO thin films have been prepared with
various techniques such as pulsed laser deposition (PLD)
[17], spray pyrolysis [18], RF magnetron sputtering [19]
and solgel [20]. Owing to particular advantages it offers,
such as easy parameter control, lower deposition area and
lower cost, the solgel route can be separated from other
techniques [21]. In this study, pure and Ga-doped ZnO thin
films were prepared by the solgel spin coating technique.
We also examined in detail the effects of Ga dopants on
the structural, morphological and optical properties of ZnO
and Ga-doped ZnO thin films.
2. Experimental
The ZnO and ZnO:Ga thin films were grown on glass
substrate by the solgel spin coating technique. Zn
(CH3COO)2  2H2O and Ga(NO3)3  xH2O were used as starting materials. 2-Methoxyethanol and ethanolamine were
used respectively as a solvent and stabilizer. Firstly, Zn
(CH3COO)2  2H2O was dissolved in a mixture of 2methoxyethanol and ethanolamine. For the ZnO:Ga solution, Ga(NO3)3  xH2O was dissolved in the solution as the
gallium source. The molar ratios of the metals to ethanolamine were adjusted as 1:1. Zn(CH3COO)2  2H2O and Ga
(NO3)3  xH2O were prepared as 0.5 M in different solutions. In order to examine the effect of Ga on ZnO, these
solutions were mixed in different molar ratios ranging
from 0% to 6% with step of 2%. In the light of other studies
[22,23], it can be said that over-doping is undesirable
because it leads to deterioration in the film structure.
Thus, the mobility of the free electrons is reduced. This
undesirable situation may affect various characteristics of
the semiconductors from conductivity to optical features.
Because of this, we avoided a higher doping ratio and
limited it to 6 mol% Ga doping content in this study. Then,

a hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) aqueous solution was

added until the pH value of the solution reached 7. Lower
pH values can lead to further surface defects as increased
presence of H ions draws more OH- groups and O2  ions
[24]. For this reason, pH values of the solutions were
adjusted to 7. The final solution was stirred at 60 1C for
2 h, at which time a clear and homogenous solution was
obtained. Before use, the glass substrates were washed
with detergent and then rinsed in methanol, acetone and
deionized water respectively, using an ultrasonic cleaner.
The precursor solution was spin-coated onto glass substrate. The process was carried out at room temperature
and at 3600 rpm rotations for 30 s. The as-coated films
were preheated at 200 1C for 10 min to eliminate the
organic residuals. This process was repeated 10 times.
Finally, the films obtained were annealed in air at 500 1C
for 1 h.
Crystal structures of ZnO and ZnO:Ga thin films were
analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) using a Rigaku D/
MaxIII C diffractometer with CuK radiation ( 1.5418 )
at 30 kV, 10 mA. Surface morphology and optical properties were characterized by a scanning electron microscope
(SEM) and by UVvis spectroscopy measurement,
respectively.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Structural properties
The structural features of ZnO and ZnO:Ga thin films
were evaluated by XRD spectra. Typical XRD spectra of the
thin films are shown in Fig. 1. All XRD diffraction patterns
show typical ZnO peaks and these peaks harmonize with
those from the JCPDS card no. 99-0111 data of hexagonal
wurtzite ZnO. According to the XRD patterns, we can
clearly say that there is no impurity peak like metallic Ga
or its oxidation form. Jun et al. [25] reported similar
results. From the diffractograms, it can be said that (002)
peak intensity has decreased with the increasing Ga
doping ratio. The increase in Ga concentration leads to
the defeat of the ZnO crystal structure. This situation is
associated with the formation of an amorphous phase.

Fig. 1. XRD spectra of ZnO:Ga thin films.

M. Yilmaz / Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 40 (2015) 99106

and their results were a 3.18 and c5.20 . Additionally, Hong et al. [32] reported that the lattice parameters of
ZnO were a3.25 and c5.12 , which are very close to
our study. When small radius ions such as Al3 and Ga3
enter the ZnO crystal structure, the structure is affected by
the Al3 or Ga3 doping. When Zn2 ions are substituted
with Ga3 ions, the ZnO bond length is changed. The Zn
O bond length is calculated from the following expression
[29]:
q

 
2
L
a2 =3 0:5  u  c2
3

Table 1
Some structural parameters of ZnO:Ga thin films.
Sample

a
ZnO:Ga
0%
ZnO:Ga
2%
ZnO:Ga
4%
ZnO:Ga
6%

f(002)

Lattice
constant
()

L
(nm)

0
(deg)

(deg)

(N/m2)

3.20 5.19

0.673 0.1955 109.1

109.8

0.87  109

3.20 5.18

0.643 0.1953 108.9

109.9

1.74  109

3.20 5.16

0.214 0.1951 108.7

110.1

3.48  109

3.21 5.12

0.199 0.1950 108.1

110.7

6.97  109

where a and c are lattice parameters for ZnO, and u (for

wurtzite structure) is given by


u a2 =3c2 1=4
4

Moreover, this case is proved by the degree of orientation

calculation. It can be calculated from Eq.(1) [26]:
f hkl

P hkl  P 0 hkl
1 P 0 hkl

101

where f(hkl), P(hkl) and P0(hkl) are defined as the degree of

P
(hkl) orientation, Phkl Ihkl= Ihkl and P 0 hkl
P
I 0 hkl= I 0 hkl respectively. Here, I(hkl) is the (hkl) peak
intensity and I(hkl) is the total intensity of all peaks in
the ZnO films. Besides, I0(hkl) and I0(hkl) are (hkl)
intensity and total intensities of all peaks belonging to
ZnO data taken from JCPDS card no. 99-0111, respectively.
Taking other studies into account, we can conclude that
the degree of orientation connects with the lattice match
between film and substrate. Since the glass substrate has
an amorphous nature and crystal structure, ZnO crystallization along the plane of (002) may be easier than the
other substrates such as Si and Al2O3 with the lowest
energy [27,28]. Therefore, in this study, the degree of
orientation is calculated by taking the (002) diffraction
peak into consideration. The results of pure ZnO and ZnO:
Ga thin films are presented in Table 1. They indicate that
the degree of orientation of the (002) plane decreases with
the increase in Ga doping concentration. Therefore it is
clear that the degree of orientation of the (002) plane is
affected by Ga doping. These values are compatible with
the XRD diffractograms. To our knowledge, there is only
one paper, published by Srivastava and Kumar, which
addresses the degree of orientation values of Ga-doped
ZnO thin films, derived from spin coating technique [29].
In this regard, these values seem to be a good reference for
Ga- doped ZnO thin films by sol-gel spin coating.
The lattice constants a and c of the hexagonal structure
have been calculated by the following formula [30]:

0  2
11
2
2
4 h k hk
l
2
dhkl @
2A
2
c
3a2
where d is the interplanar distance and h,k,l are miller
indices. The calculated a and c lattice constants are shown
in Table 1. These values are very close to the ones in JCPDS
card no. 99-0111 (a b3.25 , c5.20 ). Also, these
values are in an acceptable range as measured by other
researchers. For example, Kim et al. [31] investigated Al, Ga
and In doped ZnO, prepared by the hydrothermal method,

and u is related to the a/c ratio. Additionally, the bond

angles 0 and are represented as [29]
" r
 1 #
h
2 i

2 

1
 u 1=2
' cos
1 3 c=a
5:a
2
2 sin  1

" r
 1 #
h
2 i

2 
 u 1=2
4=3 4 c=a

5:b

L, 0 and have been calculated as 1.976 , 108.41, and

110.51 respectively, for bulk ZnO with a 3.2495 and
c 5.2069 . Calculated ZnO bond length values are given
in Table 1. According to these values, it can be clearly
proven that the covalent bond length between Zn and O
ions has changed with Ga doping concentration inversely.
These results are in accordance with other studies
[29,31,33,34]. In Table 1, fluctuations can be observed in
the c-axis orientations with Ga-doping concentration. This
also indicates the presence of stress. The following formula
has been used for residual stress along the c-axis


453:6  109 c  c0 =c0
6
where c and c0 are strained and strain-free lattice parameters obtained from XRD data and JCPDS card no. 990111, respectively. The negative sign with the stress values
in Eq. (6) denotes biaxial compressive stress and the
positive sign indicates biaxial tensile stress [35]. The total
stress is made up of two components. The first is intrinsic
stress, which consists of impurities and defects, and the
second is extrinsic stress, which is formed by the lattice
mismatch in the lattice constants and the thermal expansion coefficient of the films and substrates [3638]. In this
context, we can be clear that pre and post- heat processes
were kept the same for all samples. Thus, the intrinsic
stress originating from the thermal mismatch between the
thin films and substrates was estimated to be of the same
magnitude for all films. Because of this, it can be asserted
that the observed change in the residual stress of the Gadoped ZnO thin films is derived from the doping Ga. For
the present study, all results are laid out in Table 1. These
demonstrate that, generally, residual stress tends to
increase with an increase in Ga doping concentration.
Similar results were observed by Jun et al. [25]. Grain sizes
of the films have been calculated from a highly intense
peak using the Scherrer formula [39]. Their values are
given in Table 2. The calculated D values for ZnO film have

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M. Yilmaz / Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 40 (2015) 99106

Table 2
Values of morphological, full width at half maximum, particle size, dislocation density, Urbach energy, steepness parameter and optical bandgap of ZnO:Ga
thin films.
Samples

Ga/Zn at% ratio

hkl

FWHM (deg)

ZnO:Ga 0%

(100)
(002)
(101)
(102)
(110)

0.296
0.251
0.150
0.448
0.216

(100)
(002)
(101)
(102)
(110)

0.266
0.257
0.311
0.399
0.302

(100)
(002)
(101)
(102)
(110)

0.410
0.293
0.396
0.090
0.269

(100)
(002)
(101)
(102)
(110)

0.366
0.488
0.442
0.273
0.364

ZnO:Ga 2%

ZnO:Ga 4%

ZnO:Ga 6%

1.52

3.49

5.12

D (nm)

Eu (meV)

Steepness parameter ()  101

Eg (eV)

9.07

221

1.16

3.202

9.51

151

1.71

3.243

12.35

108

2.39

3.268

34.27

98

2.63

3.283

33.20

32.42

28.45

17.08

decreased from 33.20 nm to 17.08 nm with 6 mol% Ga

doping concentration. Generally, ZnO:Ga thin films feature
smaller grain size than ZnO films [40]. This situation can
be explained by the increasing number of nucleation
centers during the Ga incorporation of the ZnO thin film
[41].
Dislocation density (), the measure of the amount of
defects in a crystal structure, can be described in terms of
the length of the dislocation lines per unit volume (lines/
m2). Dislocation density of the films has been calculated
using the following formula [42]:
1=D2

(  1014 line sm  2)

The values obtained are detailed in Table 2. From these,

we can conclude that dislocation density tends to rise with
an increase in Ga concentration. When and values are
compared, we can clearly say that both of these increase
with Ga content. Hence, this case may indicate that biaxial
stress is a very important factor in the formation of
dislocation densities.

3.2. Morphological properties

Fig. 2 shows ZnO and ZnO:Ga thin films prepared by the
solgel spin coating technique. According to this, it can be
seen that the films are made up of nanostructured grains.
Besides, the density of nanostructured grains and their
shape are affected by Ga doping concentrations. From
Fig. 2(a) we can conclude that ZnO thin films have grown
without nanorod-shaped grains. On the other hand, with
the increase of Ga doping concentrations from 2% to 6 mol
%, films have begun to form as nanorod-like shapes (Fig. 2
(bd)). Generating ZnO nanorods using the HMT via
solution base technique, the growth mechanism can be

defined by the following equations [43,44]:

C6 H12 N4 6H2 O-6HCHO 4NH3

8a

NH3 H 2 O2NH4 OH 

8b

Zn2 4OH  -ZnOH24 

8c

ZnOH24  -ZnO H 2 O 2OH 

8d


These equations prove that the OH anions are one of the

most important factors for ZnO nanorods. The OH  ions
(Eq. (8b)) react with the Zn2 cations (Eq. (8c)) to form
ZnOH24  precursors. These play an important role in the
determination of the morphologies of ZnO crystallites
because OH- concentration is the key factor in controlling
the growth rate in the reaction solution. However, we can
infer from other studies [44] that while gallium concentrations in the solution increase, the gallium ions tend to
create a complex with OH  in the solution. In this context,
we can see that when gallium concentrations begin to
increase, the ZnO nanorods' density arrays may decrease
simultaneously. This result can be seen in the SEM images
(c) and (d) in Fig. 2, and it proves that the average particle
size is affected by Ga concentration. However, SEM images
indicate that ZnO and ZnO:Ga films have a larger grain size
than the calculated values obtained from XRD. This situation is explained in a study by Nayak et al. [45]. They
observed that small crystallites became stuck to each
other; in turn forming larger grains, which were eventually detected by SEM. Finally, the elemental compositions of ZnO and ZnO:Ga thin films were examined by EDX
measurement and these results are given in Table 2.
According to the EDX spectra, ZnO and ZnO:Ga thin films'
Ga/Zn (at%) atomic ratio distributions are in accordance
with the distribution of the starting solution.

M. Yilmaz / Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 40 (2015) 99106

103

Fig. 2. SEM images and EDX spectra of ZnO:Ga thin films (a) 0 mol% Ga doped, (b) 2 mol% Ga doped, (c) 4 mol% Ga doped and (d) 6 mol% Ga doped.

3.3. Optical properties

The optical properties of ZnO and ZnO:Ga thin films
were evaluated by UVvis spectrometer at room

temperature. The optical transmittance, absorbance and

band gap values were evaluated as a function of Ga
concentrations for ZnO and ZnO:Ga films. Fig. 3(a) shows
the optical transmittance for ZnO and ZnO:Ga films in the

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M. Yilmaz / Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 40 (2015) 99106

Fig. 4. ln () vs. (h) plots of the ZnO:Ga thin films.

[47]:

1=2
h 1 B h Eg

Fig. 3. (a) Optical transmittance spectra and (b) (h)2 vs (h) curves of
the ZnO:Ga thin films.

3701100 nm wavelength range. Optical transmittance

values at about 440 nm were found to be 68%, 73%, 88%
and 90% for ZnO:Ga 0 mol%, ZnO:Ga 2 mol%, ZnO:Ga 4 mol
% and ZnO:Ga 6 mol% respectively. These results reveal
that all films have high transparency and the optical
transparency is slightly affected by Ga doping concentrations. It can be said that optical transparency has increased
with the increase in Ga doping concentrations. Moreover,
all films have demonstrated a sharp fall below 400 nm
owing to band edge absorption. The absorption coefficient
() is identified by the following formula [46]:


ln 1=T =t

where T is the transmittance and t is the film thickness.

Starting from Eq. (9), the optical band gap of Ga-doped
ZnO thin films is calculated by the following expression

10

where h, Eg and B are photon energy, optical band gap

and constant that relates to electron-hole mobility, respectively. The effect of Ga doping on Eg has been examined by
plotting (h)2 vs h (Fig. 3(b)). The Eg values for ZnO and
ZnO:Ga thin films are calculated by extrapolating from the
straight part of this plot with is zero versus photon
energy. The values of the optical band gaps were found to
be: 3.202 eV, 3.243 eV, 3.268 eV and 3.283 eV for ZnO:Ga
0 mol%, ZnO:Ga 2 mol%, ZnO:Ga 4 mol% and ZnO:Ga 6 mol
% thin films, respectively. The results indicate that the
optical band-gap for ZnO thin films is affected by various
Ga doping concentrations. These effects can be explained
by the BursteinMoss effect. When Ga3 ions are substituted by Zn2 , the carrier concentrations increase due to
the BM band-filling effect [48]. Based on the Burstein
Moss theory, we can conclude that in heavily-doped ZnO
films, the donor electrons occupy states at the bottom of
the conduction band. At this stage, doubly-occupied states
are prevented by Pauli's Principle and optical transitions
are vertical. Therefore, the valance electrons need extra
energy to excite them to higher energy states in the
conduction band [49]. This leads to a broader optical band
gap with the increase in dopant concentrations. These
results are compatible with other studies in the literature
[25,40]. These make reference to an exponential relationship between the absorption coefficients and photon
energy which is known as the Urbach rule [50]. It relates
to electronic transitions between the occupied state in the
valance band tail and the unoccupied state in the conduction band edge in disordered materials [51]. It can be
determined by the following formula [52]:


0 exp h=EU
11
where 0 is the constant and EU is the Urbach energy
which is relevant to the width of the band tail. When Eq.
(11) is considered, ln() vs h plot should be linear and the
Urbach energy values can be obtained from the slope of
this plot (Fig. 4) [53]. Calculated EU values are presented in
Table 2. According to this, the Urbach energies tend to

M. Yilmaz / Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 40 (2015) 99106

105

Fig. 5. Variation of the Urbach energy and steepness parameter of the

ZnO films with Ga content.

decrease with increasing Ga doping concentrations. From

this, we can infer that the dopant element changes the
width of the localized state in the optical band. The
increase in Eg is referred to as the increase of material
disorder caused by Ga doping. The dislocation density
values given in Table 2 can be shown as evidence for this.
Also, the existence of impurity doping leads to new
trapping centers. Therefore, the excited electrons from
the valance band get trapped in the localized defect state,
which leads to redistribution of the states. This in turn
enables a number of transitions, such as band to tail or tail
to tail. As a result, the optical band gap increases due to the
narrowing of the Urbach tail. EU values are also determined
from the steepness of the Urbach tails based on the
structural disorder of the sample [54]. Urbach energy is
defined in the following formula:
EU

kB T

12

where is the steepness parameter, which characterizes

the steepness of the straight line near the absorption edge
owing to the electronphonon or excitonphonon interaction [54]. kB is the Boltzmann constant and T is the
temperature (300 K). The results of ZnO and ZnO:Ga thin
films' steepness parameters are given in Table 2. As can be
clearly seen in Fig. 5, we can say that the steepness
parameters rise with the decrease in Urbach energy as a
function of Ga doping concentration.
4. Correlation between the structural and optical
properties
The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation
between the structural and optical properties of un-doped
and Ga-doped ZnO thin films. Ton-That et al. [55] showed a
direct correlation between the optical band-gap and lattice
parameters and plotted the band gap as a function of the
lattice constants a and c. In another study, Benramache
et al. [56] studied the relationship between optical bandgap and crystal size for Co-doped ZnO thin films. Thus,
change in the doping level leads to variation in crystal size,
potentially affecting the optical band-gap, as the band gap
is related to grain size. In this study, we estimated the
correlation between dislocation density and optical band

Fig. 6. Variation of experimental band gap energy and correlate from Eq.
(13) of ZnO:Ga thin films as a function of dislocation density.

gap, which is obtained as a function of different Ga doping

concentrations. As shown in Table 2, we estimated nonsystematic increase in the optical band gap with dislocation density. The following empirical relationships were
found:


Eg A exp  =B C
13
where A, B and C are constants as A E  1.10E6, BE0.54
and C E3.27; and is the dislocation density obtained as a
function of Ga content. As can be seen in Fig. 6, the
correlation revealed that the correlated optical band gap
is in harmony with the experimentally obtained band gap
of Ga-doped ZnO thin films. This evidence proves that the
optical band gap of the films was affected by the defects
which occurred due to the Ga content. These results are
compatible with the data previously presented in Tables 1
and 2. As a result, a significant correlation was found
between the optical band gap and dislocation density.
5. Conclusions
ZnO thin films were successfully deposited by the sol
gel spin coating technique as a function of various Ga
concentrations. XRD patterns of the films indicated that
(002) orientation decreased with increasing Ga doping
concentrations. This was proved by the calculated degree
of orientation of the (002) plane. The lattice parameters
were calculated and these values were found to be within
an acceptable range as measured by other researchers.
Plane stress was calculated and all results exhibited a
positive sign. Thus, we concluded that all films had tensile
stress. Also, ZnO bond length values showed that it was
prone to decrease with increasing Ga doping concentration. Nanorod formations were observed with the Ga
doping and were proved by SEM images. The optical
transmission values at 440 nm were found to be 68%,
73%, 88% and 90% for ZnO:Ga 0 mol%, ZnO:Ga 2 mol%,
ZnO:Ga 4 mol% and ZnO:Ga 6 mol% respectively. The
optical band gap values increased from 3.202 eV to
3.283 eV with an increase in Ga content from 0% up to
6 mol%. In addition, Urbach energy values decreased with

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M. Yilmaz / Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 40 (2015) 99106

increasing Ga content. There was an inverse relationship

between the Urbach energy and steepness parameters. The
correlation between the band gap and dislocation density
suggests that the band gap of Ga-doped ZnO thin films was
affected by the structural defect caused by Ga content.
Considering all the results, we infer that metal doping is
currently the most effective and efficient process for
altering the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin
films and the obtained materials used in many nanotechnological applications.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by Ataturk University
Research Fund, Project no. 2013/152. This study is dedicated to my wife, Rabia, and our daughter, Serra, for always
believing in me and loving me, no matter what.
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