First-principles calculation of the electronic structure and optical properties of ZnO Co-doped with Nb and Ta

First-principle calculations have been performed to investigate the electronic structure and optical properties of ZnO co-doped with Nb and Ta. The three doping structures are set to: Zn0.9375Nb0.0625O, Zn0.9375Ta0.0625O and Zn0.875Nb0.0625Ta0.0625O. The experiments show that co-doping with Nb and Ta narrows the band gap. And it causes the Fermi level to shift upwards and enter the conduction band, while enhancing the conductivity of the doped system. In addition, it has been determined that the dielectric imaginary part of the dopant system is larger than that of the pure ZnO in the low energy region. The absorption side of the dopant system, on the other hand, exhibits a redshift. Furthermore, the transmittance of the ultraviolet region is significantly increased, and the function loss spectrum appears to redshift. This will provide a good theoretical basis for the study and the applications of photoelectric materials co-doped with Nb and Ta.