Stable, OH free zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrothermal method by varying the
growth temperature and concentration of the precursors. The formation of ZnO nanoparticles were confirmed by x-ray
diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) studies. The
average particle size have been found to be about 7-24 nm and the compositional analysis is done with inductively
coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) results shows that the
band gap of ZnO nanoparticles is blue shifted with decrease in particle size. Photoluminescence properties of ZnO
nanoparticles at room temperature were studied and the green photoluminescent emission from ZnO nanoparticles can
originate from the oxygen vacancy or ZnO interstitial related defects.
Transparent diode heterojunction on ITO coated glass substrates was fabricated using p-type AgCoO2 and n-type ZnO films by pulsed laser
deposition (PLD). The PLD of AgCoO2 thin films was carried out using the pelletized sintered target of AgCoO2 powder, which was synthesized
in-house by the hydrothermal process. The band gap of these thin films was found to be ~3.89 eV and they had transmission of~55% in the
visible spectral region. Although Hall measurements could only indicate mixed carrier type conduction but thermoelectric power measurements of
Seebeck coefficient confirmed the p-type conductivity of the grown AgCoO2 films. The PLD grown ZnO films showed a band gap of ~3.28 eV,
an average optical transmission of ~85% and n-type carrier density of~4.6×1019 cm− 3. The junction between p-AgCoO2 and n-ZnO was found
to be rectifying. The ratio of forward current to the reverse current was about 7 at 1.5 V. The diode ideality factor was much greater than 2.