Tauc Plot Software: Calculating energy gap values of organic materials based on Ultraviolet-Visible absorbance spectrum

Abstract

Studies on bio-organic materials for optoelectronic devices have increased recently, mainly due to the low cost of the materials. Electrical properties of the materials are important to review whether a material is suitable for optoelectronic applications. The energy gap is an important parameter to investigate the electrical properties of materials, and therefore, the band gap value has to be determined accurately. The energy gap of a semiconductor material can be calculated from its absorption spectrum using the Tauc plot method. In this article, we designed software based on the Tauc plot method (Taucplot4dotz) and ran a trial test using data from our previous studies on Sukun (Artocarpus Altilis) leaves extract and Gamal (Gliricidia Sepium) leaves extract. Results obtained were more accurate than our previous calculations since here we used both horizontal dan vertical linear extrapolation lines compared to only one in our previous calculations. We also used re-fitted data of ZnO [26]. Our accurate and fast calculation using the software showed that energy gap values of Sukun leaves and Gamal leaves extract were 3.033 eV and 1.833 eV, respectively. For ZnO, the energy gap was found to be 3.6205 eV, slightly different from the original data (3.625 eV) [26]. From the results, it can be concluded that the software provides an easier and faster calculation of energy gap values of materials, from which one can further investigate the potential of the materials suitable for optoelectronic devices based on bio-organic materials.