p-type conductivity control of heteroepitaxially grown ZnO films by N and Te codoping and thermal annealing

The authors report on the p-type conductivity in the ZnO films, grown on c-Al2O3 substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy, using N and Te codoping and thermal annealing. In the electrical properties, the N and Te codoping effectively suppresses the background electron concentration of ZnO films, and the thermal annealing causes the conductivity conversion from n-type to p-type. In the structural properties, the N and Te codoping deteriorates the crystalline quality of ZnO films, even if Te doping contributes to improve the crystallinity, and the thermal annealing recovers the degraded crystalline quality again. In the optical properties, the N and Te codoping simultaneously increases the donor-related emission, the acceptor-related emission, and the nonradiative recombination in ZnO films, while the thermal annealing relatively enhances the acceptor-related emission. It is proposed that (i) the N and Te codoping simultaneously induces N-related defects and donor-type defects along with free acceptors in the ZnO films, but the amount the N-related defects is larger than the donor-type defects and the free acceptors; and (ii) the thermal annealing relatively activates the N-related defects and suppresses the donor-type defects.

► We realize p-type conductivity in heteroepitaxially grown ZnO films using N and Te codoping and thermal annealing.
► We propose the p-type formation mechanism in the heteroepitaxially grown ZnO:N+Te films.
► The N and Te codoping induces N-related defects that donor-type defects and free acceptors.
► The thermal annealing relatively activates N-related defects and suppresses donor-type defects.