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Postdeposition annealing of NiOx thin films: A transition from n-type to p-type conductivity for short wave length optoelectronic devices

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Abstract

The present work highlights the effect of postdeposition annealing (373–773 K) on the tunability of electrical conductivity of radio frequency sputtered NiOx thin films with both n-type and p-type behavior. The NiOx thin films were polycrystalline with preferred (200) orientation with high optical transmission. The as-grown NiOx thin film exhibits an n-type behavior with room temperature resistivity of 4.80 × 10−3 Ω-cm and majority carrier (electrons) concentration of about 3.90 × 1020 cm−3. Film annealed at 473 K was p-type having resistivity of 1.54 × 10−1 Ω-cm and majority carrier (hole) concentration of about 4.45 × 1018 cm−3. Hall effect and thermoelectric power measurements confirm a transition in electrical conduction from n-type to p-type with postdeposition annealing at 473 K. The observed tunability of electrical conductivity of NiOx thin film will pave way toward realization of p-n homojunction for short wave length optoelectronic device applications.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are thankful to Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for the financial support to carry out this research work. One of the authors (MT) is thankful to CSIR and University of Delhi for the research fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Manisha Tyagi

  2. Physics Department, Miranda House, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Monika Tomar

  3. Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Vinay Gupta

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  1. Manisha Tyagi
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  2. Monika Tomar
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Correspondence to Vinay Gupta.

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Tyagi, M., Tomar, M. & Gupta, V. Postdeposition annealing of NiOx thin films: A transition from n-type to p-type conductivity for short wave length optoelectronic devices. Journal of Materials Research 28, 723–732 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.443

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