Rayees Ahmad Zargar, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri, India, and has been associated with the prestigious laboratory CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi for 10 years. He has wide expertise in the field of superconductors, manganites, and optical properties of semiconductors. He is an author or co-author of more than 60 research articles as well as three books.

• Preface xviiPart I: Nanotechnology 11 Synthesis and Characterization of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles / Nanocrystalline Thin Films for Photovoltaic Application 3Santosh Singh Golia, Chandni Puri, Rayees Ahmad Zargar and Manju Arora1.1 Present Status of Power Generation Capacity and Target in India 41.2 Importance of Solar Energy 41.3 Evolution in Photovoltaic Cells and their Generations 61.4 Role of Nanostructured Metal Oxides in Production, Conversion, and Storage in Harvesting Renewable Energy 121.5 Synthesis of Nanostructured Metal Oxides for Photovoltaic Cell Application 131.6 Characterization of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles/Thin Films 311.7 Conclusion and Future Aspects 322 Experimental Realization of Zinc Oxide: A Comparison Between Nano and Micro-Film 45Rayees Ahmad Zargar, Shabir Ahmad Bhat, Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, Majid Ul Islam, Imran Ahmed and Mohd Shkir2.1 Introduction 452.2 Approaches to Nanotechnology 462.3 Wide Band Semiconductors 482.4 Zinc Oxide (ZnO) 482.5 Properties of Zinc Oxide 502.6 Thin Film Deposition Techniques 522.7 Procedure of Experimental Work 532.8 Calculation of Thickness of Thin ZnO Films 542.9 Structural Analysis 542.10 Optical Characterization 562.11 Electrical Characterization 602.12 Applications of Zinc Oxide 622.13 Conclusions and Future Work 633 Luminescent Nanocrystalline Metal Oxides: Synthesis, Applications, and Future Challenges 65Chandni Puri, Balwinder Kaur, Santosh Singh Golia, Rayees Ahmad Zargar and Manju Arora3.1 Introduction 663.2 Different Types of Luminescence 673.3 Luminescence Mechanism in Nanomaterials 733.4 Luminescent Nanomaterials Characteristic Properties 743.5 Synthesis and Shape Control Methods for Luminescent Metal Oxide Nanomaterials 753.6 Characterization of Nanocrystalline Luminescent Metal Oxides 863.7 Applications of Nanocrystalline Luminescent Metal Oxides 873.8 Conclusion and Future Aspects of Nanocrystalline Luminescent Metal Oxides 884 Status, Challenges and Bright Future of Nanocomposite Metal Oxide for Optoelectronic Device Applications 101Ajay Singh, Sunil Sambyal, Vishal Singh, Balwinder Kaur and Archana Sharma4.1 Introduction 1034.2 Synthesis of Nanocomposite Metal Oxide by Physical and Chemical Routes 1054.3 Characterization Techniques Used for Metal Oxide Optoelectronics 1094.4 Optoelectronic Devices Based on MOs Nanocomposites 1114.5 Advantages of Pure/Doped Metal Oxides Used in Optoelectronic Device Fabrication 1174.6 Parameters Required for Optoelectronic Devices Applications 1184.7 Conclusion and Future Perspective of Metal Oxides-Based Optoelectronic Devices 119Part II: Thin Film Technology 1295 Semiconductor Metal Oxide Thin Films: An Overview 131Krishna Kumari Swain, Pravat Manjari Mishra and Bijay Kumar Behera5.1 Introduction 1325.1.1 An Introduction to Semiconducting Metal Oxide 1335.1.2 Properties of Semiconducting Metal Oxide 1345.1.3 Semiconducting Metal Oxide Thin Films 1355.1.4 Thin Films Deposition Method 1355.1.5 Application of Semiconducting Metal Oxide Thin Films 1485.1.6 Limitations of Semiconductor Thin Films 1495.2 Conclusion and Outlook 1506 Thin Film Fabrication Techniques 155Lankipalli Krishna Sai, Krishna Kumari Swain and Sunil Kumar Pradhan6.1 Introduction 1566.2 Thin Film - Types and Their Application 1576.3 Classification of Thin-Film Fabrication Techniques 1576.4 Methodology 1596.5 Advantages of CVD Process 1736.6 Comparison Between PVD and CVD 1746.7 Conclusion 1747 Printable Photovoltaic Solar Cells 179Tuiba Mearaj, Faisal Bashir, Rayees Ahmad Zargar, Santosh Chacrabarti and Aurangzeb Khurrem Hafiz7.1 Introduction 1797.2 Working Principle of Printable Solar Cells 1807.3 Wide Band Gap Semiconductors 1817.4 Metal Oxide-Based Printable Solar Cell 1847.5 What is Thick Film, Its Technology with Advantages 1867.6 To Select Suitable Technology for Film Deposition by Considering the Economy, Flexibility, Reliability, and Performance Aspects 1887.7 Procedures for Firing 1917.8 Deposition of Thin Film Layers via Solution-Based Process 1938 Response of Metal Oxide Thin Films Under Laser Irradiation 203Rayees Ahmad Zargar8.1 Introduction 2038.2 Interaction of Laser with Material 2058.3 Radiation Causes Modification 2068.4 Application Laser Irradiated Films 2078.5 Wavelength Range of Radiation 2088.6 Laser Irradiation Mechanism 2098.7 Experimental Procedure 211Part III: Photovoltaic and Storage Devices 2219 Basic Physics and Design of Photovoltaic Devices 223Rayees Ahmad Zargar, Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, Yasar Arfat, Vipin Kumar and Joginder Singh9.1 Introduction: Solar Cell 2249.2 Semiconductor Physics 2259.3 Carrier Concentrations in Equilibrium 2279.4 p-n Junction Formation 2299.5 Process of Carrier Production and Recombination 2299.6 Equations for Poisson’s and Continuity Equation 2309.7 Photovoltaic (Solar Power) Systems 2319.8 Types of Photovoltaic Installations and Technology 2329.9 Electrical Characteristics Parameters 2339.10 Basic p-n Junction Diode Parameters 2369.11 Conclusion 23710 Measurement and Characterization of Photovoltaic Devices 239Saleem Khan, Vaishali Misra, Ayesha Bhandri and Suresh Kumar10.1 Introduction 24010.2 Electrical and Optical Measurements 24210.3 Current-Voltage (I-V) Characterization 24210.4 Quantum Efficiency 24610.5 Hall Effect Measurements 24810.6 Photoluminescence Spectroscopy and Imaging 25210.7 Electroluminescence Spectroscopy and Imaging 25410.8 Light Beam Induced Current Technique (LBIC) 25510.9 Electron Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) 25510.10 Characterization by Ellipsometry Spectroscopy 25710.11 Conclusion 25811 Theoretical and Experimental Results of Nanomaterial Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications 263Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, Rayees Ahmad Zargar, Showkat Ahmad Dar and Trilok Chandra Upadhyay11.1 Introduction 26311.2 Literature Survey 26611.3 Theoretical and Experimental Results 27711.4 Experimental Results of Optical Properties 28211.5 Conclusions 28512 Metal Oxide-Based Light-Emitting Diodes 295Shabir Ahmad Bhat, Sneha Wankar, Jyoti Rawat and Rayees Ahmad Zargar12.1 Introduction 29612.2 Structure of LEDs 29712.3 Working Principle of LEDs 29812.4 Selection of Material for Construction of LEDs 29912.5 Basic Terminology Involved in Fabrication of LEDs 30012.6 LEDs Based on ZnO (Zinc Oxide) 30212.7 Transition Metal Oxide-Based LEDs 30712.8 Lanthanide-Based OLEDs 31012.9 Conclusion 31213 Metal Oxide Nanocomposite Thin Films: Optical and Electrical Characterization 317Santosh Chackrabarti, Rayees Ahmad Zargar, Tuiba Mearaj and Aurangzeb Khurram Hafiz13.1 Introduction 31813.2 Nanocomposite Thin Films (NCTFs) 32013.3 Materials Used for Preparation of NCTFs 32013.4 Methods of Preparation of NCTFs 32813.5 Applications 33113.6 Examples 33213.7 Laser Irradiation Sources 33313.8 Functional Characterization Techniques 33613.9 Conclusion 34114 Manganese Dioxide as a Supercapacitor Material 361Mudasir Hussain Rather, Feroz A. Mir, Peerzada Ajaz Ahmad, Rayaz Ahmad and Kaneez Zainab14.1 Introduction 36214.2 Supercapacitor Components 36614.3 Methods for MnO2 Nanoparticles 36914.4 Doped-MnO2 Materials 37214.5 MnO2 with Polymer Composites 37814.6 Nanocomposites 38114.7 Conclusion 384References 386Index 399