Improved electrical stability and UV emission of zinc oxide thin films prepared by combination of metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique and post-deposition hydrogen doping

Fourier transform infrared and photoluminescence spectroscopy provide strong evidence that post-deposition hydrogen doping of polycrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films improves the resistivity by increasing hydrogen-related shallow donors and hydrogen passivation of native defects. Improvement of the electrical stability and UV emission confirm that post-deposition hydrogen doping is a promising method to achieve high quality ZnO thin films for the use as transparent electrodes and/or UV light emitters in thin-film-based optoelectronic devices.