Koichi Matsushima

Model for thickness dependence of mobility and concentration in highly conductive zinc oxide

Abstract. The dependences of the 294 and 10 K mobility μ and volume carrier concentration n on thickness (d=25 to 147 nm) are examined in aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO). Two AZO layers are grown at each thickness, one with and one without a 20-nm-thick ZnON buffer layer. Plots of the 10 K sheet concentration ns versus d for buffered (B) and unbuffered (UB) samples give straight lines of similar slope, n=8.36×1020 and 8.32×1020  cm−3, but different x-axis intercepts, δd=−4 and +13  nm, respectively. Plots of ns versus d at 294 K produce substantially the same results. Plots of μ versus d can be well fitted with the equation μ(d)=μ(∞)/[1+d*/(d−δd)], where d* is the thickness for which μ(∞) is reduced by a factor 2. For the B and UB samples, d*=7 and 23 nm, respectively, showing the efficacy of the ZnON buffer. Finally, from n and μ(∞) we can use degenerate electron scattering theory to calculate bulk donor and acceptor concentrations of 1.23×1021  cm−3 and 1.95×1020  cm−3, respectively, and Drude theory to predict a plasmonic resonance at 1.34 μm. The latter is confirmed by reflectance measurements.

Effects of Hydrogen Dilution on ZnO Thin Films Fabricated via Nitrogen-Mediated Crystallization

Hydrogenated ZnO thin films have been successfully deposited on glass substrates via a nitrogen mediated crystallization (NMC) method utilizing RF sputtering. Here we aim to study the crystallinity and electrical properties of hydrogenated NMC-ZnO films in correlation with substrate temperature and H2 flow rate. XRD measurements reveal that all the deposited films exhibit strongly preferred (001) orientation. The integral breadth of the (002) peak from the hydrogenated NMC-ZnO films is smaller than that of the conventional hydrogenated ZnO films fabricated without nitrogen. Furthermore, the crystallinity and surface morphology of the hydrogenated NMC-ZnO films are improved by increasing substrate temperature to 400 °C, where the smallest integral breadth of (002) 2θ–ω scans of 0.83° has been obtained. By utilizing the hydrogenated NMC-ZnO films as buffer layers, the crystallinity of ZnO:Al (AZO) films is also improved. The resistivity of AZO films on NMC-ZnO buffer layers decreases with increasing H2 flow rate during the sputter deposition of buffer layers from 0 to 5 sccm. At a H2 flow rate of 5 sccm, 20-nm-thick AZO films with low resistivity of 1.5×10-3 Ω cm have been obtained.

Epitaxial Growth of ZnInON Films with Tunable Band Gap from 1.7 to 3.3 eV on ZnO Templates

Epitaxial ZnInON (ZION) films with a tunable band gap have been successfully fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering on ZnO templates prepared via nitrogen mediated crystallization (NMC). X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements show that the full widths at half maximum of the rocking curves from (002) and (101) planes are small at 0.10 and 0.08°, respectively, indicating a high crystallinity with good in-plane and out-of-plane alignments. Since the coherent growth of 35-nm-thick ZION films on NMC-ZnO templates is deduced from the reciprocal space mapping around the (105) diffraction, there is little lattice relaxation at the interface between the films and templates, which is significant in terms of the suppression of carrier recombination. The band gap of the ZION films has been tuned in a wide range of 1.7–3.3 eV by changing the Zn:In ratio. These results indicate that ZION is a potential absorption layer material of solar cells.

Model for thickness dependence of mobility and concentration in highly conductive ZnO

The dependences of the 294-K and 10-K mobility μ and volume carrier concentration n on thickness (d = 25 – 147 nm) were examined in Al-doped ZnO (AZO) layers grown in Ar ambient at 200 °C on quartz-glass substrates. Two AZO layers were grown at each thickness, one with and one without a 20-nm-thick ZnON buffer layer grown at 300 °C in Ar/N2 ambient. Plots of the 10-K sheet concentration ns vs d for buffered (B) and unbuffered (UB) samples give straight lines of similar slope, n = 8.36 x 1020 and 8.32 x 1020 cm-3, but different x-axis intercepts, δd = -4 and +13 nm, respectively. Thus, the electrical thicknesses are d - δd = d + 4 and d - 13 nm, respectively. Plots of ns vs d at 294 K produced substantially the same results. Plots of μ vs d can be well fitted with the equation μ(d) = μ(infinity symbol)/[1 + d*/(d-δd)], where d* is the thickness for which μ(infinity symbol) is reduced by a factor 2. For the B and UB samples, d* = 7 and 23 nm, respectively, showing the efficacy of the ZnON buffer. Finally, from n and μ(infinity symbol) we can use degenerate electron scattering theory to calculate bulk donor and acceptor concentrations of 1.23 x 1021 cm-3 and 1.95 x 1020 cm-3, respectively, and Drude theory to predict a plasmonic resonance at1.34 μm. The latter is confirmed by reflectance measurements.

Optoelectronic properties of valence-state-controlled amorphous niobium oxide.

In order to understand the optoelectronic properties of amorphous niobium oxide (a-NbO x ), we have investigated the valence states, local structures, electrical resistivity, and optical absorption of a-NbO x thin films with various oxygen contents. It was found that the valence states of Nb ion in a-NbO x films can be controlled from 5+  to 4+  by reducing oxygen pressure during film deposition at room temperature, together with changing the oxide-ion arrangement around Nb ion from Nb2O5-like to NbO2-like local structure. As a result, a four orders of magnitude reduction in the electrical resistivity of a-NbO x films was observed with decreasing oxygen content, due to the carrier generation caused by the appearance and increase of an oxygen-vacancy-related subgap state working as an electron donor. The tunable optoelectronic properties of a-NbO x films by valence-state-control with oxygen-vacancy formation will be useful for potential flexible optoelectronic device applications.

Relationship between electric properties and surface flatness of (ZnO) x (InN) 1−x films on ZnO templates

We have studied effects of deposition temperature on electrical properties of (ZnO)_x(InN)_1-x (ZION) films on ZnO templates. With increasing the deposition temperature from RT to 450°C, the electron mobility decreases from 93 cm²/Vs to 70 cm²/Vs and the carrier density increases from 1.8×10¹⁹ cm^-3 to 3.4×10¹⁹ cm^-3. Furthermore, we found a correlation between electrical properties and root mean square (RMS) roughness of the films. These results suggest the surface flatness is an important parameter to determine electrical properties of ZION films.