Effect of Co Doping in Tuning the Band Gap of LaFeO₃

Abstract

Herein, we reported the effect of cobalt (Co) doping on the optical band gap of LaFeO₃ (LFO). The Co doped nanoparticles were prepared by a simple sol-gel technique with composition LaFe_1–xCo_xO₃by varying content ratio of x = 0, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6. Structure of the LFO and Co doped LFO nanoparticles have been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. Whereas, surface morphology of LFO and Co doped LFO has been ascertained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The observed optical properties investigated by UV-Vis spectroscopy suggest decrease in band gap with Co doping in LFO, which can be useful for optoelectronic applications.

Keywords:

• Perovskite oxide
• doping
• band gap tuning

Funding

This work was supported by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India through National Institute of Technology, Rourkela.