Investigation of phase segregation in yttrium doped zinc oxide

We report the effect of phase segregation on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of sol–gel synthesized Zn1−xYxO samples in dilute concentration of 1–5 %. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm that below 3% of Y doping, pure ZnO wurtzite structure phase is obtained and phase segregation of Y2O3 appears at x≥0.03. XRD results are well supported by the results obtained from scanning electron microscopy, Photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The difference in the charge states, ionic radii and the coordination numbers of host lattice and dopant ions results in the phase segregation.