M. Villafuerte

Electric-pulse-induced reversible resistance in doped zinc oxide thin films

Nonvolatile, electric-pulse-induced resistance switching is reported on S and Co doped ZnO thin films deposited on different substrates using magnetron sputtering and laser ablation. Two resistance states were obtained by applying voltage pulses of different polarity. The switching was observed regardless of the substrate, dopant species, or microstructure of the samples. In the Co doped ZnO samples, the two resistance states are remarkably stable and uniform.

Advances in methods to obtain and characterise room temperature magnetic ZnO

We report the existence of magnetic order at room temperature in Li-doped ZnO microwires after low energy H+ implantation. The microwires with diameters between 0.3 and 10 μm were prepared by a carbothermal process. We combine spectroscopy techniques to elucidate the influence of the electronic structure and local environment of Zn, O, and Li and their vacancies on the magnetic response. Ferromagnetism at room temperature is obtained only after implanting H+ in Li-doped ZnO. The overall results indicate that low-energy proton implantation is an effective method to produce the necessary amount of stable Zn vacancies near the Li ions to trigger the magnetic order.

ZnO:Co diluted magnetic semiconductor or hybrid nanostructure for spintronics?

We have studied the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic defects in the magnetic and electrical transport properties of Co-doped ZnO thin films. X-ray absorption measurements show that Co substitute Zn in the ZnO structure and it is in the 2+ oxidation state. Magnetization (M) measurements show that doped samples are mainly paramagnetic. From M vs. H loops measured at 5 K we found that the values of the orbital L and spin S numbers are between 1 and 1.3 for L and S = 3/2, in agreement with the representative values for isolated Co 2+. The obtained negative values of the Curie–Weiss temperatures indicate the existence of antiferromagnetic interactions between transition metal atoms.

Magnetic field influence on the transient photoresistivity of defect-induced magnetic ZnO films

Magnetic field dependent photoresistivity was measured at 280 K in ZnO ferromagnetic films grown on r-plane Al2O3 under a N2 atmosphere. A correlation between the negative magneto photoresistivity and the existence of defect-induced magnetic order was found. The effect of magnetic field on the transient photoresistivity is to slow down the recombination process enhancing the photocarriers density. The experimental results demonstrate the possibility of tuning photocarriers life time using magnetic field in diluted magnetic semiconductors.

Power-law photoconductivity time decay in nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films

The sub-band-gap excited photoconductivity (PC) time decay and the film structure of rf-sputter deposited nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films have been studied. Atomic force microscopy and x-ray diffraction measurements were used to assess roughness, crystalline structure and mean grain size of the films. Samples fabricated under different deposition conditions exhibit different microstructures and absolute PC, but similar persistent PC behaviour after switching off the light source. The very slow PC decay can be well represented by a function that is nearly constant for short times and decreases as a power law for times longer than about 100 s. This function is shown to be consistent with a rate equation characterized by a relaxation time that increases linearly with time. This behaviour, in turn, agrees with predictions of a previously reported model that assumes electron–hole recombination limited by carrier-density-dependent potential barriers associated with inhomogeneities. These results may have important implications on attempts to determine distributions of trap energies from PC decay curves in TiO2.

Origin of the giant negative photoresistance of ZnO single crystals

We have measured the temperature dependence (30 K≤T≤300 K) of the electrical resistance of ZnO single crystals prepared by hydrothermal method in darkness and under the influence of light in the ultraviolet range. The resistance decreases several orders of magnitude at temperatures T<200 K after illumination. Electron paramagnetic resonance studies under illumination reveal that the excitation of Li acceptor impurities is the origin for the giant negative photoresistance effect. Permanent photoresistance effect is also observed, which remains many hours after leaving the crystal in darkness.

Role of defects and their complexes on the dependence of photoconductivity on dark resistivity of single ZnO microwires

We have studied the correlation between the photoconductivity and the dark resistivity of single ZnO microwires. We found that as-grown microwires with higher dark resistivities have higher photoconductivities. However, when the microwires are thermal treated in vacuum, this correlation is inverted. We have also analyzed the behavior of photoconductivity on protonated as-grown samples. We discuss the origin of these behaviors in terms of the interplay of oxygen and zinc vacancies and their complexes acting as recombination or trapping centers.

Franz-Keldysh effect in epitaxial ZnO thin films

Photoconductance spectroscopy has been studied in epitaxial ZnO thin films with different thicknesses that range between 136 and 21 nm. We report a systematic decrease in photoconductivity and a red shift in band edge photoconductance spectra when the thickness is reduced. For thinner films, it is found that the effective energy gap value diminishes. By time dependent photoconductivity measurements, we found an enhanced contribution of the slow relaxation times for thicker films. These effects are interpreted in terms of a band-bending contribution where the Franz-Keldysh effect and the polarization of ZnO play a major role in thinner films.

Surface effects on the photoconducting properties of SrTiO3 thin films

We report a study of the photoconducting properties of semiconducting SrTiO3 thin films. The photoconducting spectrum shows a pronounced rise around 3.2 eV with a typical indirect gap dependence, involving a transversal optical phonon of 25 meV. While these features remain unaltered under the influence of an applied electric field in ambient conditions, in a vacuum the rest of the spectrum does not, shifting to lower energies for higher electric fields. Time dependent photoconductivity response while illumination is applied confirms the loss of efficiency of the 3.7 eV transition. At low-temperatures, the photoconducting spectrum at low-electric fields has striking similarities to the ones at room-temperature for high-electric fields. This ability to control the photoconducting response through external parameters is explained considering a model of a downward band bending generated by oxygen vacancies at the surface in concomitant with recent findings at the surface of SrTiO3.

Study of the Effect of Metal/Semiconductor Interface Properties on a Resistance Switching Device

N-doped ZnO thin films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition on SiO 2 /Si substrates. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the films had the wurtzite structure, and were highly oriented along the c-axis direction. Au and Al electrical contacts were deposited by sputtering on the top surface of the samples, forming a two-terminal structure in each case. The current-voltage characteristics of the two terminal structure, and the temperature dependence of the resistance switching effect, were studied in the 125-300 K temperature range. The results of these measurements are presented and discussed in terms of the different Schottky barrier heights, as well as in terms of interfacial defect-induced gap states.