ABSTRACT
We have deposited Zinc oxide and erbium doped Zinc oxide thin films, on heated glass substrates using spray pyrolysis system. All the deposited films have been studied using X Ray Diffraction (XRD). The electron probe microanalysis was used in order to compare the Er concentration in the spray solution with its concentration in the thin film. Scanning electron microscopy reveals that, the addition of Erbium can effectively control the growth of ZnO nanostructure. In fact, the crystallite size and the surface roughness of the films were drastically dependant on the amount of the doping agent. Columnar textured growth becomes more pronounced when doping ratio exceeds (>7at %). At room temperature, ZnO shows strong UV cathodoluminescence (CL) peak and, a blue-green band at about 513 nm. For Erbium doped samples, the blue-green luminescence disappears and three new broad bands appear, with no change in bands position. However, UV peak intensity decreases remarkably with the erbium concentration increase.
