Site location of Al-dopant in ZnO lattice by exploiting the structural and optical characterisation of ZnO:Al thin films

•The incorporation nature of Al atoms in the ZnO lattice either in interstitial or substitutional site.•A substitution of Zn by Al appear for low doping ⩽2.•An occupation of the interstitial sites by Al atoms appear for doping >2%.•For doping >4%, the crystalline structure of ZnO tends to get disorderly.

The zinc oxide thin films, highly transparent, doped aluminium were prepared on glass substrates by the reactive chemical spray method. The incorporation nature of Al atoms in the ZnO lattice was determined by X-ray diffraction and optical analyses. Indeed, for low doping ⩽2%, the results of X-ray spectra analysis show a simultaneous reduction of lattice parameters (a and c), this variation, which follows VEGARD’s law, tends to indicate a substitution of Zn by Al. By against for doping >2% the increase in the lattice parameters thus the grain sizes, in accordance with the VEGARD’s law can be explained by occupation of the interstitial sites by Al atoms. Beyond 4%, the material tends to get disorderly and the crystallites orientation is random. The studied optical properties show that the variation of the optical gap follows a law of the x3/2 form for x < 3% (x is the aluminium atom fraction incorporated in the ZnO lattice). The granular structure is fairly visible and some local growths are disrupted. The crystallite size at low enlargement is coherent with the XRD results.