The electronic and optical properties of indium doped zinc oxide nanosheets

•The half-metallic properties of the In doped ZnONS is found.•The energy band of the In doped ZnONS moves to lower energy range.•The absorption coefficient, refraciton n(ω) and reflectivity R(ω) of the In doped ZnONS induced red-shift.

Electronic and optical properties of the pure ZnO crystal and In doped ZnO nanosheets (ZnONS) are systematically explored by using an accurate density functional method. The half-metallic properties are induced by the doping of Indium in ZnO nanosheets from the spin dependent density of states and band structure analysis. The optical properties of the In doped ZnONS, such as the absorption, refraction and reflectivity, show a red-shift corresponding to the dielectric function compared to that of the pure ZnONS. The new transition peaks near the Fermi levels are observed due to the In doping, which were deduced from the direct transitions of electrons from the impurity indium atom.