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...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
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
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my-uthm-ep.843
record_format uketd_dc
spelling my-uthm-ep.8432021-09-06T04:22:02Z Optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance 2017-09 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 http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/ http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/1/24p%20NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI.pdf text en public http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/2/NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf text en staffonly http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/843/3/NORHIDAYAH%20CHE%20ANI%20WATERMARK.pdf text en validuser mphil masters Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia Fakulti Kejuruteraan Elektrik dan Elektronik
institution Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
collection UTHM Institutional Repository
language English
English
English
topic TK7800-8360 Electronics
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
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.
format Thesis
qualification_name Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.)
qualification_level Master's degree
author Che Ani, Noorhidayah
author_facet Che Ani, Noorhidayah
author_sort Che Ani, Noorhidayah
title 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_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_sort optimization of gadolinium-doped zinc oxide films for diluted magnetic semiconductor and its effects on organic solar cell performance
granting_institution Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
granting_department Fakulti Kejuruteraan Elektrik dan Elektronik
publishDate 2017
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
_version_ 1747830691997941760