Synthesis and characterization of phosphorus-doped ZnO and (Zn,Mg)O thin films via pulsed laser deposition

Authors: Li, Y.; Heo, Y.; Erie, J.; Kim, H.; Ip, K.; Pearton, S.; Norton, D.

Source: Journal of Electronic Materials, Volume 35, Number 4, April 2006 , pp. 530-537(8)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

The transport and optical properties of phosphorus-doped (Zn,Mg)O thin films grown via pulsed laser deposition (PLD) are studied. The carrier type of as-deposited (Zn,Mg)O:P films converts from n-type to p-type with increasing oxygen partial pressure. All the films exhibit good crystallinity with c-axis orientation. This result indicates the importance of oxidation conditions in realizing p-type (Zn,Mg)O:P films. The as-deposited ZnO:P film properties show a strong dependence on the deposition ambient at different growth temperatures. The resistivity of the samples deposited in O₃/O₂ mixture is two orders of magnitude higher than the films grown in oxygen and O₂/Ar/H₂ mixture. The room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) of the as-deposited films has been shown that growing in the O₂/Ar/H₂ mixture ambient significantly increases the band edge emission while inhibiting the visible emission. The enhanced ultraviolet (UV) emission in the films grown in O₂/Ar/H₂ mixture may result from hydrogen passivation of the deep level emission centers. The annealed ZnO:P films are n-type with nonlinear dependence of resistivity on annealing temperature. The resistivity increases in the films with annealing at 800°C while decreasing with further increasing annealing temperature. Strong visible light emission is observed from the ZnO:P films annealed in oxygen.

Keywords: Wide bandgap semiconductor; zinc oxide; (Zn,Mg)O; phosphorus doped; pulsed laser deposition

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11664-006-0095-z

Affiliations: 1: Email: dnort@mse.ufl.edu

Publication date: 2006-04-01