Effect of different annealing temperature on Sb-doped ZnO thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition on sapphire substrates

Influence of annealing temperature on the properties of Sb-doped ZnO thin films were studied. Hall measurement results indicated that the Sb-doped ZnO annealed at 950 °C was p-type conductivity. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated that the Sb-doped ZnO thin films prepared at the experiments are high c-axis oriented. It was worth noting that p-type sample had the worst crystallinity. The measurements of low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra indicate that the sample annealed at the temperatures of 950 °C showed strong acceptor-bound exciton (A0X) emission, and confirmed that it is related to Sb-doping by comparing with the undoped ZnO low-temperature PL spectrum.

Research highlights► We obtained the p-type Sb-doped ZnO thin film by changing annealing temperature. ► We researched the effect of the Sb-related acceptors concentration to the crystallinity of the Sb-doped ZnO thin films. ► The measurements of low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra indicate that the p-type Sb-doped ZnO showed strong acceptor-bound exciton (A0X) emission, and we proved that the A0X emission related to Sb-doping.