The most often studied acceptors in ZnO are group-V N, As, and Sb atoms. However, stable and reproducible p-type material with high concentration and high mobility is yet to be achieved. Motivated by the recent reports [1,2] we have studied the efficiency of Ag as an acceptor.

Ag-doped ZnO thin films were fabricated in a two step process in which ZnO/Ag multilayer was first sputter-deposited on sapphire substrate and then heat treatment was performed to obtain a homogeneous distribution of dopant. The Ag content was 1-5 at. %. High-resolution X-ray diffraction, secondary mass spectrometry, and atomic force microscopy analyses assessed a good crystalline quality with a uniform composition. Transport measurement revealed that after moderate temperature (400-500^oC) anneals in N₂ flow ZnO:Ag is p-type with carrier concentration above 5x10¹⁸cm^-3, which compares favorably with group V dopants. Mobility is few cm²/Vs The transmittance of 500 nm thick p-ZnO films in the visible wavelength spectrum was >60%.

In parallel, acceptor level of Ag was calculated based on the density functional theory using the ESPRESSO code [3]. The calculated level of Ag is 0.2-0.25 eV above the top of the valence band. This confirms our experimental results, and shows that ionization energy of Ag is comparable to those of N, As, and Sb. Formation of Ag-related bands with the increasing Ag content was analysed using the Coherent Potential Approximation.

Part of the research was supported by the grant from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education “Bandgap engineering of ZnO-based alloys” N50703131/0743 and the national scientific network (“New materials and sensors for optoelectronics, informatics, energetics and medicine) 72/E-67/SN-033/2006.

[1] Y. Yan, M.M. Al-Jassim, S-H Wei, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 181912 (2006).

[2] B. D. Ahn, H. S. Kang, J. H. Kim, Gun Hee Kim, H. W. Chang, S. Y. Lee, J. Appl. Phys. 100, 093701 (2006)

[3] www.pwscf.org

• Legal notice:
  

  Copyright (c) Pielaszek Research, all rights reserved.
  The above materials, including auxiliary resources, are subject to Publisher's copyright and the Author(s) intellectual rights. Without limiting Author(s) rights under respective Copyright Transfer Agreement, no part of the above documents may be reproduced without the express written permission of Pielaszek Research, the Publisher. Express permission from the Author(s) is required to use the above materials for academic purposes, such as lectures or scientific presentations.
  In every case, proper references including Author(s) name(s) and URL of this webpage: https://science24.com/paper/15899 must be provided.

1. Diluted magnetic semiconductors – from bulk crystals to low dimensional structures
2. Neutron scattering studies of short-period MnTe/ZnTe superlattices: magnetic order, magnon propagation and confinement
3. X-ray diffraction studies of (Pb,Cd)Te solid solution – possible new material for thermoelectric applications
4. Hexagonal MnTe with NiAs structure: thermal expansion coefficients and exchange striction
5. 1D ZnO-based structures obtained by thermal oxidation of ZnTe and ZnTe/Zn nanowires
6. Physical properties of unique ZnO single crystals from Oława Foundry
7. Electronic and optical properties – As and As+Sb doped ZnO grown by PA-MBE
8. Grown ZnMgO/ZnO/ZnMgO heterostructures on p-type Si(111) by MBE method
9. Dual-acceptor doped p-ZnO:(As+Sb)/n-GaN heterojunctions grown by PA-MBE as a highly selective UV detector
10. Low-temperature expansion of metastable Pb_1-xCd_xTe solid solution
11. Can we control the process of room temperature ferromagnetic clusters formation in GaMnAs matrix?
12. Monocrystalline character of ZnMgTe shell in the core-shell ZnTe/ZnMgTe nanowires
13. Optimization of technology for contact metallization in electronic devices - XRD and EXAFS studies
14. Structural transformations of GaMnAs layer annealed under enhanced hydrostatic pressure
15. Innowacyjne technologie wielofunkcyjnych materiałów i struktur dla nanoelektroniki, fotoniki, spintroniki i technik sensorowych (InTechFun).
16. Electrical and optical properties of zinc oxide layers obtained by Atomic Layer Deposition
17. Zinc oxide grown by Atomic Layer Deposition - a material for novel 3D electronics
18. Dimethylzinc and diethylzinc as precursors for monocrystalline zinc oxide grown by Atomic Layer Deposition
19. Application of Ti-Al-N MAX-phase for contacts to GaN
20. Structure of Si:Mn annealed under enhanced stress conditions
21. Effect of high pressure annealing on defect structure of GaMnAs
22. Catalytic growth by molecular beam epitaxy and properties of ZnTe-based semiconductor nanowires
23. Photothermal investigations of SiC thermal properties
24. Characterization of Ir and IrO₂ Schottky contacts on n-type 4H-SiC under high temperature stress
25. Determination of stress in composite engineered substrates for GaN-based RF power devices
26. Passivation of GaN surface by chemical bath deposition of thin CdS layers
27. Optimisation of electrochemical sulphur treatment of GaSb and related semiconductors: application to surface passivation of GaSb/In(Al)GaAsSb TPV cells
28. Comparison of various GaSb-based device structures for application in thermophotovoltaic cells
29. Optical properties of p-type ZnO:(N, As, Sb)
30. Optical and magnetooptical properties of the p-type ZnMnO.
31. Periodic boundary conditions in micromagnetic modeling
32. Magnetism of CaAs and CaP half-metals
33. Structural stability and formation of MnAs inclusions in (Ga,Mn)As
34. Relationship between condition of deposition and properties of W-Ti-N thin films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering
35. Crystalline structure and surface morphology of Dy_xO_y films grown on Si
36. Structural analysis of reactively sputtered W-Ti-N thin films
37. Phase relationships in annealed Cu-Al-O layers
38. TaSiN, TiSiN and TiWN diffusion barriers for metallization systems to GaN
39. Transparent Conducting Oxides as Ohmic Contacts for GaSb-based Thermophotovoltaic Cells
40. NANOCOMPOSITE PHOTONIC SENSORS: FIRST APPROACH BY THE NANOPHOS INITIATIVE
41. Structural properties of MnTe, ZnTe, and ZnO, and phase stability of Mn_xZn_1-xTe alloy
42. Optical properties of CdTe quantum dots
43. Thermally stable Ru-Si-O gate electrode for AlGaN/GaN HEMT
44. Preparation and characterization of hexagonal MnTe and ZnO layers
45. p-type conducting ZnO: fabrication and characterisation
46. Diffusion barrier properties of reactively sputtered W-Ti-N thin films
47. Use of element selective methods for characterization of thin films
48. Study of Long-Term Stability of Ohmic Contacts to GaN
49. High-pressure phase transition and compressibility of zinc-blende HgZnSe mixed crystals
50. Structure characterisation of MBE-grown ZnSe:Cr layers
51. Fabrication of GaSb microlenses by photo and e-beam lithography and dry etching