Electrical conductivity increase of Al-doped ZnO films induced by high-energy-heavy ions

We have investigated the effects on electrical properties of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) semiconductor films induced by 90 MeV Ni, 100 MeV Xe and 200 MeV Xe ions. The AZO films with c-axis orientation on SiO2-glass substrate were prepared by using a RF-sputter-deposition method at 400 °C. We find that the conductivity increases by two order of magnitude under high-energy-heavy ion irradiation, as has already been observed for 100 keV Ne ion irradiation. We also find that the efficiency of the conductivity enhancement, which is defined as the conductivity increment per a unit of ion fluence, scales super-linearly with the electronic stopping power (Se). The carrier density and mobility for unirradiated and irradiated AZO films are presented.