Visible Light Response in Defect Engineered Wrinkle Network Nanostructured ZnO

This study demonstrates the deposition of ZnO nanostructured thin films by simple low-cost sol-gel spin coating technique. Solution processing can be used to modulate the properties of semiconductors by introducing defects. As deposited and annealed ZnO thin films show photoluminescence emission in visible region. XRD confirms the formation of hexagonal wurtzite structure for both annealed and unannealed samples. Transmittance and absorbance have been recorded using UV-Vis spectroscopy. SEM images show a wrinkle network morphology with branches comprised of nanoparticles. The ability to modulate the conductivity on shining white light has been demonstrated with a high
$\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{light}}/\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{dark}}$
.