Optoelectronic applications with transparent conducting oxides have been made possible by modulating the carrier density of wide band gap oxides with doping. We demonstrate the modulation of the density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level in nanocrystalline CuAlO₂ particles synthesized using a sol–gel technique, as a function of doping with a magnetic impurity (Ni). This behavior is directly correlated with structural studies using X-ray diffraction and magnetic properties which show a similar trend. Our results can be understood in a picture where charge hopping occurs through surface or defect states, rather than by direct hopping between the quantum-confined states of the nanocrystal, and an increase in the DOS at the Fermi level caused by the substitution of Ni atoms at the Al site.

中文翻译：

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使用磁性掺杂剂调节CuAlO ₂纳米晶体的电子和磁性

通过掺杂来调节宽带隙氧化物的载流子密度，已经使得具有透明导电氧化物的光电应用成为可能。我们证明了使用溶胶-凝胶技术合成的纳米晶CuAlO ₂粒子在费米能级上的态密度（DOS）的调制是掺杂磁性杂质（Ni）的函数。这种行为与使用X射线衍射和磁特性的结构研究直接相关，后者显示出相似的趋势。我们的结果可以在图片中理解，其中电荷跳跃是通过表面或缺陷状态发生的，而不是通过纳米晶体的量子受限状态之间的直接跳跃，以及由于镍原子的取代而导致的费米能级DOS的增加在铝基地。