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In this study, the Mg doping effects on the nanostructural dependence of photoluminescence and the photosensing properties in Zn1−xMgxO (x = 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05) nanorod arrays were systematically examined. The vertical-aligned nanorod arrays were separately grown on ZnO-seeded n-Si substrates via a low-temperature hydrothermal process. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that all Zn1−xMgxO nanorod arrays exhibited the same preferentially c-oriented wurtzite structure. Images of all the Zn1−xMgxO nanorod arrays provided by field emission scanning electron microscope showed that both the length and diameter of the Zn1−xMgxO nanorod arrays increased with increasing Mg doping concentration. Also, an enhanced blue-shifted ultraviolet (UV) emission and a reduced visible emission were observed from the photoluminescence spectra of the Zn1−xMgxO nanorod arrays. The former indicated the decrease of defects and the latter indicated the enhancement of the crystallinity and the increase in optical bandgap. Current–voltage curves were separately measured in the dark and under UV illumination. Finally, the mechanism of the Mg doping effects on the corresponding defects, bandgap, and UV photosensing characteristics of the Zn1−xMgxO nanorod arrays was investigated in detail.

Pr-doped ZnO thin films (Zn1−xPrxO) (x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.02, 0.04) were prepared on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrates by means of the sol–gel method and spin coating technology, followed by rapid thermal annealing treatment at 800 °C. The influence of Pr content on the structural and optical properties of the Zn1−xPrxO thin film was examined and discussed. The wurtzite hexagonal structural characteristics were investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis, and Pr3+ substitution for Zn2+ ions was indicated. Finally, the typical bipolar current-voltage switching curves and electrical conduction model of Zn1−xPrxO film resistive random access memory devices were discussed and investigated for low resistance state/high resistance state in the initial forming process.

Praseodymium and niobium-substituted bismuth titanate (Bi 3.96 Pr 0.04 Ti 2.95 Nb 0.05 O 12 , BPTNO) thin films were deposited on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO 2 /Si(100) substrates by a sol–gel technology. The effects of annealing temperature (500 ~ 800 °C) on microstructure and electric properties of thin films were investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the BPTNO thin films have a bismuth-layered perovskite structure with preferred (117) orientation. The intensities of (117) peak increases with increasing annealing temperature. With the increase of annealing temperature from 500 °C to 800 °C, the grain size of BPTNO thin films increases. The highly (117)-oriented BPTNO thin films exhibits a high remnant polarization (2 P r ) of 48 μC/cm 2 and a low coercive field (2 E c ) of 110 kV/cm, fatigue free characteristics up to > 10 8 switching cycles. A small leakage current density ( J ) was 6.23 × 10 − 8 A/cm 2 at 200 kV/cm. The leakage current mechanisms were controlled by Poole–Frenkel emission in the low electric field region and by Schottky emission in the high field region.

The transparent ZnO and Zn0.96Fe0.04O nanocrystalline films were deposited on the glass substrates by sol–gel method followed by repaid thermal annealing treatment. The grain size of the ZnO films was decreased by the doping of Fe. X-ray diffraction measurements of the films showed the same wurtzite hexagonal structure and preferential orientation along the c-axis. Temperature dependence resistivity showed a semiconductor transport behavior for both compositions. At high temperature region, the transport mechanism can be fitted with semiconductor behavior by Arrhenius equation, σ(T) = σ0 exp[−(Ea/kT)m] with m = 1. The activation energy Ea is increased from 0.47 meV for pure ZnO film to 0.69 meV for Zn0.96Fe0.04O film obtained from equation. At low temperature region, the resistivity can be fitted well with the behavior of Mott variable range hopping, σ(T) = σh0 exp[−(T0/T)n] with n = 1/4. The results demonstrate that the crystallization and the corresponding carrier transport behavior of the Zn1 − xFexO films are affected by the doping of Fe in the Zn1 − xFexO films.

Sm–Ta co-doped Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 (Bi 3.96 Sm 0.04 Ti 2.92 Ta 0.08 O 12 , BSTTO) thin films were fabricated on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO 2 /Si(100) substrates by sol–gel technology, and the microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric and leakage current properties of the thin films were investigated. BSTTO thin film exhibits a high remanent polarization (2 P r ) of 46.2 μC/cm 2 and a low coercive field (2 E c ) of 102 kV/cm, fatigue-free characteristics up to ≧ 10 8 switching cycles. The 2 P r of the BSTTO thin film is larger than that of the Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 thin film (2 P r = 26 μC/cm 2 ). In addition, the leakage current density of Sm–Ta co-doped Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 thin film is 2.56 × 10 − 8 A/cm 2 , which is lower than that of the Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 thin film (1.0 × 10 − 5 A/cm 2 ). These improvements in the ferroelectric and leakage current properties can be attributed to the enhanced stability of the oxygen in the Ti–O octahedron layer by the substitution with Sm and Ta for Bi 3 + and Ti 4 + in A-site and B-site of the BTO thin film, respectively.

Titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) thin films are prepared by the sol–gel method and annealed at 600 °C by conventional (CTA) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) processes on fluorine-doped tin oxide -coated glass substrates for application as the work electrode for the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). TiO 2 thin films are crystallized using a conventional furnace and the proposed RTA process at annealing rates of 5 °Cmin −1 and 600 °Cmin −1 , respectively. The TiO 2 thin films are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis. Based on the results, the TiO 2 films crystallized by RTA show better crystallization, higher porosity and larger surface area than those of CTA. The short-circuit photocurrent and open-circuit voltage values increased from 5.2 mAcm −2 and 0.6 V for the DSSC with the CTA-derived TiO 2 films to 8.3 mAcm −2 and 0.68 V, respectively, for the DSSC containing RTA-derived TiO 2 films.

Praseodymium-substituted bismuth titanate (Bi 3.2 Pr 0.8 Ti 3 O 12 , BPTO) thin films were successfully deposited on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO 2 /Si(100) substrates by spin coating with a sol-gel technology and rapid thermal annealing. The effects of annealing atmospheres (vacuum, ambient atmosphere and oxygen) on the growth and properties of thin films were investigated. The results show that the intensity of the (117) diffraction peak of Bi 3.2 Pr 0.8 Ti 3 O 12 film annealed in oxygen is stronger than those annealed in ambient atmosphere and vacuum. The XRD spectra demonstrated that a highly (117) orientation could be obtained when the Bi 3.2 Pr 0.8 Ti 3 O 12 thin film was annealed in an oxygen-sufficient environment. The BPTO thin films annealed in oxygen atmosphere exhibits the maximum remanent polarization (2P r ) of 49 μC/cm 2 and a low coercive field (2E c ) of 130 kV/cm, fatigue free characteristics up to ≥10 11 switching cycles. These results indicate that the BPTO thin film is useful in nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory applications.

Nanocrystalline anatase TiO 2 thin films with different thicknesses (0.5-2.0 μm) have been deposited on ITO-coated glass substrates by a sol-gel method and rapid thermal annealing for application as the work electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). From the results, the increases in thickness of TiO 2 films can increase adsorption of the N3 dye through TiO 2 layers to improve the short-circuit photocurrent (J sc ) and open-circuit voltage (V oc ), respectively. However, the J sc and V oc of DSSC with a TiO 2 film thickness of 2.0 μm (8.5 mA/cm 2 and 0.61 V) are smaller than those of DSSC with a TiO 2 film thickness of 1.5 μm (9.2 mA/cm 2 and 0.62 V). It could be due to the fact that the increased thickness of Ti0 2 thin films also resulted in a decrease in the transmittance of TiO 2 thin films thus reducing the incident light intensity on the N3 dye. An optimum power conversion efficiency (η) of 2.9% was obtained in a DSSC with the TiO 2 film thickness of 1.5 μm.

High-performance pyroelectric infrared (IR) detectors have been fabricated using tantalate-doped lithium niobate LiNb 1 -x Ta x 0 3 (abbreviated as LNT, with x= 0-1.0) thin films deposited on Pt(1 1 11)/TilSiO 2 /Si(100) substrates by diol-based sol-gel processing, in which, tantalate (Ta) is adopted as dopant in lithium niobate. The randomly oriented LNT thin film exhibits a relatively small dielectric constant and a large pyroelectric coefficient. The pyroelectric characteristics of detectors with various tantalate contents, as a function of modulation frequency, were investigated. It was found that LiNb 0,8 Tau 0.2 O 3 had the largest voltage responsivity of 7020 (V/W) at 70 Hz, and a specific detectivity (D*) of 7.76 x 10 7 cm Hz 1/2 /W at 200 Hz. These results indicate that the LNT thin film with x=0.20 is most suitable for application as high-performance pyroelectric thin-film detectors.