Abstract
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•UV detection of nanostructure thin films was analyzed in correlation of grain size of films.•UV detection of nanostructure thin films was analyzed in correlation of grain size of films.•Optoelectronic performance of films considerably dependence on rpm.
Here we report on the development of ZnO nanostructured thin films-based UV detectors, fabricated via cost effective sol–gel spin coating method. The prepared films possess hexagonal wurtzite structure with strong texturing along the [002] directions. Morphological studies of the films confirm the formation of nano-sized granular structures. It was found that the UV detection performance of these nanostructured films is decreased spectacularly, about thirty-fold, by reducing the grains size from 23 nm (at 1500 rpm) to about 11 nm (at 3000 rpm). The grain sizes and optical band gaps of the films were found to considerably vary with the rpm. In addition to the high UV detection performance, the prepared films show about 85–90% optical transmittance in the visible region of the solar spectrum. Our study provides a cost-effective approach for performance improvements of ZnO nanostructures based optoelectronic devices.