Analysis and characterization of opto-electronic properties of iron oxide (Fe2O3) with transition metals (Co, Ni) for the use in the photodetector application

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmrt.2023.07.065
• Publication Date: 2023-07-13T02:04:41Z
• Authors: Shahroz Saleem; Muhammad Naeem Ashiq; Sumaira Manzoor; Umber Ali; Rabia Liaqat; Ali Algahtani; Saqib Mujtaba; Vineet Tirth; Amnah Mohammed Al...; Moamen S. Refat; Asad Ali; Muhammad Aslam; Abid Zaman
• Keywords: ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES; FE O; OPTOELECTRONICS PROPERTY; ELECTRON-HOLE RECOMBINATION; ENERGY GAP; ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES; METAL NANOPARTICLES; STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES; PHOTONS; 01 natural sciences; CO-DOPING; PHOTOLUMINESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY; PHOTOLUMINESCENCE PROPERTIES; SOLS; 0103 physical sciences; COBALT; OPTICAL PROPERTIES; TEMPERATURE; ANALYSIS AND CHARACTERIZATION; COST EFFECTIVENESS; SPECTRA'S; Mining engineering. Metallurgy; Structural properties; Optical properties; TN1-997; Fe2O3 nanoparticles; FE2O3 NANOPARTICLE; HEMATITE; SPECTRUM ANALYSIS; FE2O3 NANOPARTICLES; Raman spectroscopy; Photoluminescence properties; RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY; Electrical properties; PHOTOLUMINESCENCE; CO AND NI; COBALT AND NICKELS

There are several uses for ultraviolet photodetectors, including in the scientific, military, and industrial sectors. In this sense, UV photodetectors must have high responsiveness, be insensitive to visible light, and be inexpensive to produce. For this purpose, we report the development of Co and Ni based iron oxide nanoparticles via the cost effective low temperature sol–gel auto-combustion process. XRD study approves the cubic crystal structure of iron oxide (Fe2O3) with predominant orientation along (311) direction. A sharp and strong peak is obtained at 583 cm−1 and 594 cm−1 for both samples in FT-IR spectra assigned to metal oxide Fe–O network system which approves the formation of iron oxide. Raman spectroscopy analysis reveals the presence of two A1g and five Eg phonon modes in the case of both samples. Absorption study exhibits the strong absorption peaks for the iron oxide sample doped with cobalt and nickel, while poor absorption was noticed from the pure iron oxide nanoparticles. The large and low energy band gap values are found to be 2.77 eV and 1.68 eV for pure Fe2O3 and cobalt and nickel doped Fe2O3 nanoparticles, respectively. Stone and cloud-like shape morphology was observed from SEM analysis. The EDX spectra reveal the presence of essential elements, like Fe and O in the case of pure iron oxide while Fe, O, Co and Ni in the case of transition metals doped iron oxide nanoparticles. The photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy technique was recorded the luminescent properties which reveals the decrease in PL intensity that confirms the decline in electron–hole recombination. Therefore, I–V characterization analysis reveals that electrical conductivity increases with the addition of metals due to decrease in electron–hole recombination with the co-doping of metals. These modified opto-electronic properties of the developed Fe2O3 by metals co-doping make it suitable candidate for the use in photodetector application.