Influence of Sn Doping on Structural and Optical Properties of Zinc Oxide Nanorods Prepared Via Hydrothermal Process

Hydrothermally grown ZnO nanorods were synthesized with various Sn contents on quartz substrates, ranging from 0 to 2.5 at% in increment 0.5 at%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ultraviolet (UV)- visible spectroscopy were used to determine the effect of Sn doping on the structural and optical properties. In the SEM images, the nanorods have hexagonal wurzite structure and the diameter of the nanorods increase with increase in the Sn contents. The optical parameters of the Sn-doped ZnO nanorods such as the absorption coefficients, optical bandgaps, Urbach energies, refractive indices, dispersion parameters, dielectric constants, and optical conductivities were gained from the transmittance and reflectance results. In the PL spectra, the NBE peaks in the UV region decrease and blue-shift with increase in the Sn contents. In addition, the DLE peaks in the visible region of the nanorods shift toward low-energy region when the ZnO nanorods doped with various Sn contents.