Pulsed-laser-deposited p -type ZnO films with phosphorus doping

• Published in: Journal of applied physics 2005-08, Vol.98 (4), p.043519-043519-4
• Main Authors: Vaithianathan, Veeramuthu, Lee, Byung-Teak, Kim, Sang Sub
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0021-8979; 1089-7550
• DOI: 10.1063/1.2011775

We report the preparation of p -type ZnO thin films on Al 2 O 3 ( 0001 ) substrates with phosphorus doping by pulsed laser deposition using Zn 3 P 2 as the dopant source material. The results of the Hall effect measurements taken at room temperature indicate that the 3 - mol % phosphorus-doped ZnO films thermally annealed at temperatures between 600 and 800 ° C under an O 2 atmosphere exhibit p -type behavior with a hole concentration of 5.1 × 10 14 − 1.5 × 10 17 cm − 3 , a hole mobility of 2.38 − 39.3 cm 2 ∕ V s , and a resistivity of 17 − 330 Ω cm . The low-temperature ( 15 K ) photoluminescence results reveal that the peak related to the neutral-acceptor bound exciton ( A 0 , X ) emission at 3.358 eV is only observed in the films showing p -type behavior. Our results not only demonstrate that there is a narrow temperature window for rapid thermal annealing in which phosphorus-doped p -type ZnO films can be obtained, but also suggest that the use of Zn 3 P 2 can provide an effective approach to the preparation of p -type ZnO films.