Traps distribution in sol-gel synthesized ZnO nanoparticles

Abstract

The distribution of shallow traps within the sol-gel synthesized ZnO nanoparticles was investigated using thermoluminescence (TL) experiments in the 10–300 K temperature range. TL measurements presented two overlapped peaks around 110 and 155 K. The experimental technique based on radiating the nanoparticles at different temperatures (T exc. ) between 60 and 125 K was carried out to understand the trap distribution characteristics of peaks. It was observed that peak maximum temperature shifted to higher values and activation energy (E t ) increased as irradiating temperature was increased. The E t vs. T exc. presented that ZnO nanoparticles have quasi-continuously distributed traps possessing activation energies increasing from 80 to 171 meV. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.