Recent developments in optoelectronic and photonic applications of metal oxides

Metal oxides (MOs) play a vital role in the industrial and technological field including crystalline and amorphous transparent conductors (TCOs) and semiconductors. Since they are the most abundant materials in the Earth's crust and are constituents of traditional ceramics, metal oxide semiconductors are complementing other unconventional organic and inorganic semiconductors such as silicon, CNTs, and 2D materials. The electronic and optical properties of the metal oxides can be tuned with respect to the synthesis techniques, morphology, electronic structure, defect states, charge transport mechanism, etc., for achieving the materials with completely new functions. These unique properties of metal oxides make them suitable for thin-film transistors, solar cells, flat panel displays, diodes, and memories. In particular, luminescent properties of the metal oxide were used in optoelectronic and photonic applications, that is, dye-sensitized solar cells, photochromic and photoelectrochromic systems for digital display, optical sensor, etc. In this chapter, we particularly describe the recent developments in metal oxides for optoelectronic and photoelectronic applications.