Effect of neodymium doping on structure, electrical and optical properties of nanocrystalline ZnO

In this paper, we report effect of Nd doping on structure, electrical and optical properties of nanocrystalline ZnO prepared through a modified ceramic route. The X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy studies reveal that annealed samples are single phase, pure nanocrystalline ZnO. The optical band gap for different compositions, estimated from ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy study, shows a little increasing tendency while doped with Nd for the samples annealed at lower temperature. The dc electrical conductivity of the samples decreases with the increase in Nd concentration. The ac electrical measurements prove the hopping conduction as the dominant mechanism. The results are being explained on the basis of band structural change due to Nd doping in the host lattice and by Correlated Barrier Hopping model.