STUDY OF CHANGE IN THE BAND GAP OF MgO-DOPED ZnO NANOPARTICLES PREPARED BY SOL-GEL METHOD

ZnO nanostructures have applications in many fields because of their useful properties like large direct band gap, high electron mobility, piezoelectricity, large exciton binding energy, strong room temperature photoluminescence. In this paper synthesis of Magnesium doped ZnO nanoparticles using a Sol-gel method is presented. Zinc and Magnesium salt precursors were dissolved in a solution which was then transformed into gel by vigorous stirring while heating which was then sintered at high temperatures to form Magnesium doped ZnO nanoparticles. The size of the nanoparticles was in the range of 20-120 nm and most of the planes were in (101) direction. A considerable increase in the band has been observed which could have useful applications in electronics in building devices with high break-down voltages.