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Photoluminescence Study of Deep Level Defects in ZnO Thin Films

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Abstract

In the present work, zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were prepared by heating, at 500 ∘C, metallic Zn films deposited onto Si (100) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. According to the x-rays diffraction patterns, the polycrystalline hexagonal ZnO phase (wurtzite) was obtained with a preferential orientation along the (101) planes. The increase of both the crystallites size and the Zn-O bond length, as a function of the heating time, reflect the improvement of the crystalline quality of the investigated films. The investigated films emitted in ultraviolet, visible and infrared regions. The ultraviolet emission was linked to the crystalline quality of the films. All the visible emission related defects were identified. Their concentrations vary differently as a function of the heating time. The infrared emission originated from the oxygen anti-sites (OZn). The correlation between the decrease of the electrical resistivity and the increase of both 2 + charged oxygen vacancies (\(V_{O}^{++})\) and hydrogen impurities (H-I) defects suggested that the unintentional n-type conductivity in ZnO came from the collective contribution of \(V_{O}^{++}\) and H-I defects.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge one of them; G. Schmerber for his help during the samples characterization. Thanks are due to G. Ferblantier and D. Muller, from ICube in Strasbourg (France) for their help during the optical measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Physico-Chimie des Surfaces et Interfaces (LRPCSI), Faculté des Sciences, Université 20 août 1955-Skikda, B.P. 26, Route d’El-Hadaiek, 21000, Skikda, Algeria

    A. Kabir, I. Bouanane, D. Boulainine & B. Boudjema

  2. LCC, Université des Frères Mentouri, Constantine I, 25000, Constantine, Algeria

    S. Zerkout

  3. IPCMS, UMR 7504 CNRS-UdS, 23 rue du Loess, B.P. 43, 67034, Strasbourg Cedex 2, France

    G. Schmerber

Authors
  1. A. Kabir
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  2. I. Bouanane
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  3. D. Boulainine
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  4. S. Zerkout
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  5. G. Schmerber
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  6. B. Boudjema
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Correspondence to A. Kabir.

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Kabir, A., Bouanane, I., Boulainine, D. et al. Photoluminescence Study of Deep Level Defects in ZnO Thin Films. Silicon 11, 837–842 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-018-9876-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-018-9876-2

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