Optical and Structural characterization of low dose gamma irradiated Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films prepared by Electrostatic spray pyrolysis

Abstract

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films of 150 nm thickness were prepared by electrostatic spray pyrolysis and subjected to gamma irradiation of 5 Gy, 10 Gy and 15 Gy dose. The as-deposited and irradiated films were subjected to XRD, SEM and UV-VIS spectrophotometer characterizations. XRD pattern of as-deposited and irradiated ZnO thin films were amorphous hexagonal wurtzite structure with preferred orientation along (100) plane. The SEM images exhibited aggregated nanosized particles with visible voids and the exposed ZnO thin films become more and more uniform with fewer voids. The optical band gap and energies band tail of localised states of ZnO thin films decreases with increase in gamma irradiation dose