Preparation of indium-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles by pulsed laser ablation in liquid technique and their characterization

Abstract

Indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) nanoparticles (NPs) are produced by pulsed laser ablation in liquid technique. The influence of indium doping on the sizing, structure, morphology and optical properties of nanoparticles was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), energy dispersive spectrum, UV–Visible and photoluminescence spec-troscopies. The XRD results demonstrated that indium-doped ZnO maintained a hexagonal wurtzite structure with a (002) preferential orientation. With reference to the TEM images, the particle size increased with an increase in the doping ratio, and the morphology varied from particle to aggregated spheres and then to NPs. The optical absorption spectra increased with an increase in In-doped concentration, while the band gap had reduced. In addition, the photoluminescence spectrum had a broad green emission from IZO nanoparticles.