Correlation between reflectance and photoluminescent properties of al-rich ZnO nano-structures

Al rich zinc oxide nano-structured films were synthesized using spin coating sol-gel technique. The films were annealed in oxygen ambient in the temperature range of 200-700 °C. The structural, optical, and photoluminescence (PL) properties of the films were studied at various annealing temperatures using X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, photoluminescence emission spectra measurement, and Raman and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The optical band gap was found to decrease with the increase of the annealing temperature following the Gauss Amp function due to the confinement of the exciton. The PL peak intensity in the near band region (I_NBE) was found to increase with the increase of the annealing temperature up to 600 °C, then to decrease fast to a lower value for the annealing temperature of 700 °C due to crystalline quality. The Raman peak of E₂ (low) was red shifted from 118 cm^-1 to 126 cm^-1 with the increase of the annealing temperature. The intensity of the second order phonon (TA+LO) at 674 cm^-1 was found to decrease with the increase of the annealing temperature. The normalized values of the reflectance and the PL intensity in the NBE region were highest for the annealing temperature of 600 °C. A special correlation was found between the reflectance at λ = 1000 nm and the normalized PL intensity in the green region due to scattering due to presence of grains.