Establishment of the correlation law between electron density, infrared absorption and doping concentration in Ga3+-doped ZnO

A polyol-mediated synthesis allows the obtaining of doped zinc oxides nanoparticles with tunable infrared absorption properties via the doping concentration. In a first step the prepared nanoparticles are characterized in terms of chemical composition (purity and homogeneity), crystallite size and agglomerate morphology. A correlation law between the infrared absorbing efficiency, the free electron density and the doping concentration is then clearly established; this law is based on the neighboring probability of the dopant ions in the crystal network.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► Synthesis of nanometric A3+-doped ZnO by polyol-mediated route. ► Correlation between free electron density and the doping rate of A3+-doped ZnO. ► Optimization of infrared absorbing properties of A3+-doped ZnO.