Structural and optical correlation of Ni doped ZnO nanorods

Tuning of morphological, structural, optical properties of semiconductor metal oxides often provides a significant strategy for increasing the performance of electronic, optoelectronic, and photocatalytic devices. Here, we study the morphological, structural and optical behavior of zinc oxide nanorods doped with different concentration of nickel by the low- cost wet-chemistry method, before and after annealing treatment. The results are explained using FESEM, XRD and room temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy. These characterizations show that the Ni doping increases the deep level defect and also the structural strain that is caused by the annealing treatment. Overall, this study shows how Ni doping and annealing treatment tune the ZnO properties that can be useful for some applications.