Impact of defect sites on the Raman scattering properties of nitrogen doped ZnO thin films

Abstract

Abstract This paper focuses on the influence of nitrogen doping and vacuum annealing on the properties of nitrogen-doped ZnO thin films grown by spin coating technique. The optical absorption study was indirect evidence for the presence of intrinsic defects like oxygen vacancy and Zn interstitials and in line with this, Urbach energy was calculated to confirm the disorder levels. Using Urbach energy, the electron–phonon interaction strength was evaluated and its impact on the line shape of major Raman mode (E2) was studied in detail. Apart from these, possible reasons for peak shift, anisotropic broadening and asymmetry line shape behaviour are detailed here.