Influence of doping concentration on the properties of ZnO:Mn thin films by sol–gel method

Thin films of Mn-doped ZnO with different doping concentration (0.8, 1, 3, 5 at%) were prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by using sol–gel method. The effects of the doping concentration on the structural properties, electrical characteristics and element binding energy in films were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that the c-axis orientation of ZnO films was affected by Mn2+ content. Current–voltage (I–V) measurements indicated that resistivities of ZnO films were observably enhanced by dopant of Mn2+ and the resistivities value increased with a doping level up to 5 at% Mn. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) patterns suggested that the binding energies of O1s and ZnL3M45M45 were affected by the content of Mn2+.