Optical and dielectric properties of silver-substituted ZnAl2O4 spinels synthesized using a sol-gel auto-combustion method

Abstract

The present study deals with two compounds, (x = 0.05 and x = 0.1), synthesized using a sol-gel auto-combustion method. X-ray diffraction analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the formation of a spinel structure. UV-visible spectroscopy revealed that the band gap is 4.3 eV and 4 eV for x = 0.05 and x = 0.1, respectively, which confirm that these compounds, (x = 0.05 and x = 0.1), are potential candidates for optoelectronics. Moreover, the effect of frequency and temperature on the dielectric parameters was studied using impedance spectroscopy. Additionally, the activation energies were estimated from the modulus data and are about 0.659 eV for x = 0.05 and 0.41 eV for x = 0.1. These values are in good agreement with those obtained from complex polarizability.