Hitoshi Tampo

Band-gap modified Al-doped Zn1−xMgxO transparent conducting films deposited by pulsed laser deposition

Al-doped Zn1−xMgxO films have been deposited on glass substrates at a substrate temperature of 200°C by a pulsed laser deposition system. A resistivity of 3×10−4Ωcm was obtained at x=0.06. Film resistivity was found to increase with further increases in Mg composition. The maximum band gap of films with a resistivity ρ⩽1×10−3Ωcm was found to be 3.97eV, demonstrating band-gap engineering possibilities in the range of Eg=3.5–3.97eV with a resistivity ρ⩽1×10−3Ωcm. The average transmittance of the films was higher than 90% in the wavelength region λ=400–800nm, a range suitable for transparent conducting film applications.

Polarization-induced two-dimensional electron gases in ZnMgO/ZnO heterostructures

Both the formation mechanism and the origin of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in ZnMgO/ZnO heterostructures have been investigated. The 2DEG in the heterostructures was confirmed to originate from polarization-induced charge and was found to be dominant for transport at low temperatures as well as room temperature (RT) by transport measurements. The origin of 2DEG was concluded to be the surface of the ZnMgO layer based on both capacitance-voltage measurements and the dependence of the carrier concentration on the ZnMgO layer thickness. The largest sheet carrier concentration was 1.1×1013 cm−2 and the highest mobility for the heterostructure was obtained for a Mg composition of 0.61 at RT.

Two-dimensional electron gas in Zn polar ZnMgO∕ZnO heterostructures grown by radical source molecular beam epitaxy

A two-dimensional electron gas was observed in Zn polar ZnMgO∕ZnO (ZnMgO on ZnO) heterostructures grown by radical source molecular beam epitaxy. The electron mobility of the ZnMgO∕ZnO heterostructures dramatically increased with increasing Mg composition and the electron mobility (μ∼250cm2∕Vs) at RT reached a value more than twice that of an undoped ZnO layer (μ∼100cm2∕Vs). The carrier concentration in turn reached values as high as ∼1×1013cm−2 and remained nearly constant regardless of Mg composition. Strong confinement of electrons at the ZnMgO∕ZnO interface was confirmed by C-V measurements with a concentration of over 4×1019cm−3. Temperature-dependent Hall measurements of ZnMgO∕ZnO heterostructures also exhibited properties associated with well defined heterostructures. The Hall mobility increased monotonically with decreasing temperature, reaching a value of 2750cm2∕Vs at 4K. Zn polar “ZnMgO on ZnO” structures are easy to adapt to a top-gate device. These results open new possibilities for high elec...

Improved External Efficiency InGaN-Based Light-Emitting Diodes with Transparent Conductive Ga-Doped ZnO as p-Electrodes

Transparent conductive Ga-doped ZnO (ZnO:Ga) was fabricated to serve as p-contacts of InGaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using molecular-beam epitaxy. As-grown ZnO:Ga films typically have resistivities of ?=2-4?10-4 ??cm, and over 80% transparency in the near UV and visible wavelength ranges. The current-voltage characteristics between as-grown ZnO:Ga contacts and p-GaN layers were ohmic. The brightness of LEDs fabricated with ZnO:Ga p-contacts was nearly double compared to LEDs with conventional Ni/Au p-contacts. We obtained the external efficiency as high as 20.8% in the case of the near UV LED. The forward voltage at 20 mA was found not to increase even after the lamp LED with ZnO:Ga were kept for 80 h in high humidity and high temperature environments.

Degenerate layers in epitaxial ZnO films grown on sapphire substrates

ZnO films were grown on low-temperature (LT) buffer layers on sapphire a-plane (11–20) substrates by radical source molecular-beam epitaxy. The LT buffer layers were found to effect the electrical properties of subsequently grown undoped ZnO films, and their presence was found to be indispensable for the growth of films with low carrier concentrations and high mobilities. Temperature-dependent Hall measurements showed the existence of a degenerate region related to the LT buffer layers. It was found that the effects of degenerate layers could be reduced by using annealing treatments and nitrogen doping of the LT buffer layers. The dominant residual donor energy of 110 meV was found to be different than previously reported. The carrier concentration of a ZnO film fabricated using a nitrogen-doped buffer layer was 7.5×1016 cm−3 with a mobility of 132 cm2/V s at room temperature.

Effect of rapid thermal annealing on Al doped n-ZnO films grown by RF-magnetron sputtering

High-quality Al-doped n-type ZnO (n-ZnO:Al) epilayers have been grown by an rf-magnetron sputtering technique combined with a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. The electrical and optical properties of as-deposited samples are considerably improved upon annealing at 900°C for 3 min in nitrogen ambient. The improvement is attributed to the deoxidation of Al-oxides, i.e., the activation of Al dopants. The samples annealed at 900°C produce a mobility of 65.5 cm2/Vs and a carrier concentration of 1.03×1020 cm-3. It is also shown that the sample surface becomes significantly smoother after annealing. The results show that the RTA process effectively improves the electrical and optical properties of the Al-doped ZnO films.

Determination of crystallographic polarity of ZnO layers

The crystallographic polarity of ZnO epilayers was determined by x-ray diffraction (XRD) using anomalous dispersion near the Zn K edge. The method is not destructive and is straightforward to carry out using a typical XRD measurement system. The polarity difference between the Zn (0001) and O (0001¯) surfaces could be easily determined using a {0002} diffraction peak and the Bremstrahlung radiation from a Cu rotating anode source. By using the normalized pre- and post-Zn K-edge diffraction intensity ratios of the (0002) diffraction peak, Zn polar and O polar ZnO layers could always be distinguished but, the absolute value of the ratio was found to change with layer thickness. The absolute value of the ratio with layer thickness was found to have a linear dependence on layer thickness allowing determination of the polarity of (0001) ZnO epilayers with a single x-ray measurement and the known layer thickness in conjunction with standard data. Acid etching results confirmed the veracity of the polarity deter...

Strong excitonic transition of Zn1−xMgxO alloy

A strong excitonic optical transition in a Zn1−xMgxO alloy grown by radical source molecular beam epitaxy was observed using both optical reflectivity measurements and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Clear and strong reflectance peaks at room temperature (RT) were observed from 3.42eV (x=0.05)to4.62eV (x=0.61) from ZnMgO layers at RT. Distinct clear PL spectra at RT were also observed for energies up to 4.06eV (x=0.44). The peak intensity of the reflected signal increased for x values up to x∼0.2 simultaneously with an increase in PL intensity; however, a Stokes shift between the reflectance peak and the PL peak was not observed for x values below 0.2. These facts suggest that the oscillator strength of ZnMgO is enhanced by alloying, and the underlying mechanism is discussed. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the strong reflectance properties even at RT provide an easy method to determine the Mg composition of a thin ZnMgO layer in a ZnMgO∕ZnO heterostructure.

Photoluminescence characterization of Zn1−xMgxO epitaxial thin films grown on ZnO by radical source molecular beam epitaxy

The authors report that high-quality Zn1−xMgxO alloys are very brilliant light emitters, even more brilliant than ZnO, particularly in the high-temperature region; both the emission bandwidth and the oscillator strength of the photoluminescence from Zn1−xMgxO alloys increase remarkably with increasing Mg composition ratio x. The authors have revealed that the increase in the oscillator strength is mainly due to the increase in the activation energy required for the nonradiative recombination processes. Therefore, it is suggested that the localization of excitons, because of the compositional fluctuation, takes place in Zn1−xMgxO alloys and that the degree of the localization increases with increasing x.

Growth and electrical properties of ZnO thin films deposited by novel ion plating method

The URT(Uramoto-gun with Tanaka magnetic field)-IP(ion plating) method is a technique for depositing a thin film on a substrate. This method offers the advantage of low-ion damage, low deposition temperatures, large area deposition and high growth rates. Ga-doped ZnO thin films were grown using the URT-IP method, and the material properties were evaluated. The quality of ZnO thin films grown by the URT-IP method was found to be sensitive to oxygen supply during growth. It was observed that the saturation point of the growth rate corresponding to the optimum oxygen supply leads to the best electrical properties. The profiles of the dependence of film properties on oxygen supply revealed a part of growth mechanism of the URT-IP method.