W-doped ZnO transparent conducting nanostructures synthesized by hydrothermal method

A simple method is employed to synthesize undoped and W-doped ZnO (WZO) nanostructures (NSs). The measurements of X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectra, optical transmittance, and four-probe method reveal that the temperature employed during the synthesis strongly affects the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the films. The values of transparency and sheet resistance of the undoped NSs are used as a figure-of-merit (FOG) and the undoped NSs exhibit a better performance at 100 °C. To further improve the FOG parameter, WZO NSs are also obtained at 100 °C. The results showed that WZO can serve as a promising transparent conducting oxide for various applications of transparent conducting oxide materials.