Growth of nitrogen-doped p-type ZnO thin films prepared by atomic layer epitaxy

Nitrogen-doped, p-type ZnO thin films were grown successfully on sapphire (0001) substrates by using atomic layer epitaxy (ALE). Zn(C2H5)2[Diethylzinc, DEZn], H2O and NH3 were used as a zinc precursor, an oxidant and a doping source gas, respectively. The lowest electrical resistivity of the p-type ZnO films grown by ALE and annealed at 1000°C in an oxygen atmosphere for 1 h was 18.3 Ω·cm with a hole concentration of 3.71 × 1017 cm−3. Low temperature-photoluminescence analysis and time-dependent Hall measurement results support that the nitrogen-doped ZnO after annealing is a p-type semiconductor.