Aluminium (Al)-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films with different Al concentrations were prepared by the solgel spin-coating method. Optical parameters such as the optical band gap, absorption coefficient, refractive index, dispersion parameter, and optical conductivity were studied in order to investigate the effects of the Al concentration on the optical properties of AZO thin films. The dispersion energy, single-oscillator energy, average oscillator wavelength, average oscillator strength, and refractive index at infinite wavelength of the AZO thin films were found to be affected by Al incorporation. The optical conductivity of the AZO thin films also increases with increasing photon energy.

ZnO nanorods were grown by hydrothermal method. Two kinds of seed layers, Au film and island seed layers were prepared to investigate the effect of seed layer on ZnO nanorods. The ZnO nanorod on Au island seed layer has more unifom diameter and higher density compared to that of ZnO nanorod on Au film seed layer. The ZnO nanorods on Au island seed layer were annealed at various temperatures ranging from 300 to 850 o C. The pinholes at the surface of the ZnO nanorods is formed as the annealing temperature is increased. It is noted that the pyramid structure on the surface of ZnO nanorod is observed at 850 o C. The intensity of ZnO (002) diffraction peak in X-ray diffraction pattern and intensity of near band edge emission (NBE) peak in photoluminescence (PL) are increased as the ZnO nanorods were annealed at the temperature of 300 o C.

LiF:Mg,Cu,Si held in Harshaw neutron TLD badge holders for the dosimetry in the mixed field of neutron and gamma rays was found to be less than 0.1 as against the maximum permitted value of 0.4.

ZnO nanorods were grown on the CdxZn1-xO seed layers with various Cd mole fractions by hydrothermal method. The effects of the Cd mole fraction for CdxZn1-xO seed layers on the structural and optical properties of the ZnO nanorods were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence. The narrowest full-width at half-maximum and largest grain size of the CdxZn1-xO seed layers, indicating improvement in crystal quality, were observed at the Cd mole fraction of 0.5. At the Cd mole fraction of 0.5, the largest enhancement in the density, the crystal quality, and the growth rate of the ZnO nanorods was observed while their appearance was not affected significantly by the incorporation of the Cd in the CdxZn1-xO seed layers. Consequently, the luminescent properties of the ZnO nanorods were enhanced. The largest improvement in the structural and optical properties of the ZnO nanorods was observed at the Cd mole fraction of 0.5.

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