Nitrogen is a deep acceptor in ZnO

Zinc oxide is a promising material for blue and UV solid-state lighting devices, among other applications. Nitrogen has been regarded as a potential p-type dopant for ZnO. However, recent calculations [Lyons, Janotti, and Van de Walle, Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 252105 (2009)] indicate that nitrogen is a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:AIP advances 2011-06, Vol.1 (2), p.022105-022105-7
Main Authors: Tarun, M. C., Iqbal, M. Zafar, McCluskey, M. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
annealing
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
doping
II-IV semiconductors
photoluminescence
vacancies
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Summary:Zinc oxide is a promising material for blue and UV solid-state lighting devices, among other applications. Nitrogen has been regarded as a potential p-type dopant for ZnO. However, recent calculations [Lyons, Janotti, and Van de Walle, Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 252105 (2009)] indicate that nitrogen is a deep acceptor. This paper presents experimental evidence that nitrogen is, in fact, a deep acceptor and therefore cannot produce p-type ZnO. A broad photoluminescence (PL) emission band near 1.7 eV, with an excitation onset of ∼2.2 eV, was observed, in agreement with the deep-acceptor model of the nitrogen defect. The deep-acceptor behavior can be explained by the low energy of the ZnO valence band relative to the vacuum level.
ISSN:2158-3226
2158-3226
DOI:10.1063/1.3582819