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P-type conduction in room-temperature high-energy electron-irradiated ZnO thin films

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Abstract

We report the realization of the p-type conductivity and the enhancement of the photoluminescence (PL) intensity in undoped ZnO films treated with high-energy (1 MeV) electron-beam irradiation (HEEBI), suggesting that the HEEBI process is compatible with a low-temperature requirement for the fabrication of transparent thin film transistors with good efficiency on a plastic substrate. The p-type conductivity of the films was revealed by the Hall, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and PL measurements after being electron-irradiated in air at room temperature. The major acceptor-like defects were determined to be oxygen interstitial and zinc vacancy. A model was proposed in terms of O as well as Zn diffusion to explain the observed results. It was also observed that HEEBI treatment has little influence on the optical transmittance of ZnO films, whereas HEEBI treatment shifts the optical band gap toward the lower energy region from 3.29 to 3.28 eV.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Semiconductor and Display Engineering, and Department of System and Control Engineering, Hoseo University, Asan, Chungnam, 336-795, Republic of Korea

    Eui-Jung Yun, Jin Woo Jung, Chae Il Cheon, Jeong Seog Kim, Young Hwan Han & Min-Wan Kim

  2. Laboratory for Quantum Optics, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, 305-353, Republic of Korea

    Byung Cheol Lee

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  1. Eui-Jung Yun
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  2. Jin Woo Jung
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  4. Jeong Seog Kim
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Correspondence to Eui-Jung Yun.

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Yun, EJ., Jung, J.W., Cheon, C.I. et al. P-type conduction in room-temperature high-energy electron-irradiated ZnO thin films. Journal of Materials Research 24, 1785–1790 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2009.0186

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2009.0186

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