Effect of annealing temperature on ZnO:Al/p-Si heterojunctions

Al-doped, zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films with a 1.2 at.% Al concentration were deposited on p-type silicon wafers using a sol–gel dip coating technique to produce a ZnO:Al/p-Si heterojunction. Following deposition and subsequent drying processes, the films were annealed in vacuum at five different temperatures between 550 and 900 °C for 1 h. The resistivity of the films decreased with increasing annealing temperature, and an annealing temperature of 700 °C provided controlled current flow through the ZnO:Al/p-Si heterojunction up to 20 V. The ZnO:Al film deposited on a p-type silicon wafer with 1.2 at.% Al concentration was concluded to have the potential for use in electronic devices as a diode after annealing at 700 °C.

► Characteristics of ZnO:Al films were examined with respect to annealing temperature.
► ZnO:Al/p-Si heterojunctions were produced in Cu/ZnO:Al/Si/Al configuration.
► ZnO:Al/p-Si heterojunctions can be produced by sol–gel technique.
► ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diodes have forward to reverse current ratio.