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A facile fabrication of Sn-doped CeO2 nanocrystalline thin films with enhanced photodiode properties for optoelectronic applications

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Abstract

The advancement of p–n photodiode fabrication employing rare-earth materials has created cogent interest in the field of semiconductor device technology. We report on the formation of pure and Sn-doped CeO2 thin films assembled through spray pyrolysis technique to enhance the p-Si/n-Sn:CeO2 diode performance. A polycrystalline nature of cubical crystal structured Sn-CeO2 thin films was developed on glass slides with various doping levels of tin (0, 2, 4 and 6 wt%). The crystallite size was found to decline with increasing Sn wt%. A uniform surface with tiny spherical-like crystallite grains was observed through the FE-SEM microscope. The existence of Sn ions with the CeO2 system was confirmed by the EDX and XPS spectrum. The effect of Sn doping on the optical absorption and band gap of CeO2 was evaluated, in which the 2 wt% Sn exhibited lower Eg value with maximum absorption. The Sn ions enhanced the electrical conductivity suggesting the semiconducting nature of the films. The p-Si/n-Sn:CeO2 diode was fabricated, and its performance was analyzed under dark and light intensity of 100 mW/cm2. The photosensitivity of the device varied from 17.11 to 671.65%. The ON–OFF photoresponse of 6 wt% Sn is relatively higher than that of pure CeO2.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Department of Science and Technology-Science and Engineering Research Board, Government of India, for the major research project (EMR/2016/007874). The authors from KKU express their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this work through research groups program under grant number R.G.P.2/64/40.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 020, India

    R. Siva Prakash, C. Mahendran, J. Chandrasekaran & R. Marnadu

  2. St. Jude’s Public School and Junior College, Kotagiri, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, 643 217, India

    R. Siva Prakash

  3. Department of Physics, Department of Physics, PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641062, India

    S. Maruthamuthu

  4. Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, P.O.Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia

    I. S. Yahia

  5. Advanced Functional Materials and Optoelectronic Laboratory (AFMOL), Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia

    I. S. Yahia & Mohd. Shkir

  6. Nanoscience Laboratory for Environmental and Bio‑Medical Applications (NLEBA), Semiconductor Lab., Metallurgical Lab. 2 Physics Department, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Roxy, 11757, Cairo, Egypt

    I. S. Yahia

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  1. R. Siva Prakash
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Siva Prakash, R., Mahendran, C., Chandrasekaran, J. et al. A facile fabrication of Sn-doped CeO2 nanocrystalline thin films with enhanced photodiode properties for optoelectronic applications. Appl. Phys. A 127, 173 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04311-4

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