Controlled Doping in Zinc Oxide Thin Films via Oxygen Plasma-Assisted Sol-Gel (OPASG) Processing Elizabeth Michael Candidacy Fall 2012 October 25, 2012 Topic: Stoichiometry control in oxide thin films, reduction of defect concentration as well as activation of dopants are considered major roadblocks towards their utilization as semiconductors. Inhomogeneous distribution of dopants or electronically active defects can complicate the extraction of material parameters such as carrier mobility and concentration. Develop an experimental program to address these challenges in a model oxide material of your interest. Be specific how you want to achieve controlled p and n doping in your material of choice.
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Controlled Doping in Zinc Oxide Thin Films via Oxygen Plasma-Assisted Sol-Gel (OPASG) Processing
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Controlled Doping in Zinc Oxide Thin Films via Oxygen Plasma-Assisted Sol-Gel (OPASG) Processing
Elizabeth MichaelCandidacy Fall 2012October 25, 2012
Topic: Stoichiometry control in oxide thin films, reduction of defect concentration as well as activation of dopants are considered major roadblocks towards their utilization as semiconductors. Inhomogeneous distribution of dopants or electronically active defects can complicate the extraction of material parameters such as carrier mobility and concentration. Develop an experimental program to address these challenges in a model oxide material of your interest. Be specific how you want to achieve controlled p and n doping in your material of choice.
Oxide Semiconductors•Potential as low-cost, nontoxic
semiconductors•Transparent to visible light•Integration into industry is challenged by
poor control over stoichiometry, defects, and dopants▫Difficulties with carrier concentration and
mobility
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Challenges of ZnO•Potential for ZnO in industry•Challenge in defect control•The cause of inherent n-type conductivity
in ZnO is unknown, but may be due to:1. Oxygen vacancies2. Zinc interstitial atoms3. Antisite defects4. Residual hydrogen atoms
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Shockley-Read-Hall Recombination
• Deep-level defects are the most effective centers for recombination
• Conclusion: minimize deep-level defects
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• p-Type doping is suppressed by self-compensation:
• If defects are removed before doping is attempted, p-type doping may achieve more success
Self-Compensation in ZnO
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Dopant Control in ZnO•Controlled n-type doping has been
achieved•Reproducible p-type doping has not been
achieved due a self-compensation mechanism
•If defects can be minimized, it may be possible to achieve p-type doping▫Key issue: Control oxygen vacancies
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Motivation: Oxygen Vacancy Control•Minimization of defects may allow
controlled doping▫Reduces self-compensation
•Liu and Kim showed that treatment of sputtered ZnO thin films with oxygen plasma reduces the concentration of oxygen vacancies ▫Next step: Introduce p-type dopants
M. L. a. H. K. Kim, "Ultraviolet detection with ultrathin ZnO epitaxial films treated with oxygen plasma," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 84, no. 173, pp. 173-175, 2004.
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Plasma-Film Interactions• Plasma couples kinetic energy
into a film deposition process • When plasma strikes the
surface of a film, the species may: 1. Be reflected due to
structural or size constraints2. Cause chemical activation,
removing any residual organic species
3. Cause atomic displacement both within and on the surface of the film
4. Penetrate the film • Key Issue: Controlling the
power of the plasma
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HypothesisOxygen plasma-assisted sol-gel (OPASG) techniques will be used to decrease the concentration of oxygen vacancies formed during the growth of ZnO thin films. If the minimization of these deep level defects via OPASG processing suppresses the self-compensation mechanism in ZnO, then excellent control over dopant homogeneity will be achieved.
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Objectives1. Growth of ZnO thin films using both traditional
and plasma-assisted spin-casting techniques• X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) to determine phase purity• Dynamic Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS)
to verify stoichiometry• Deep-Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) to detect
electrically active defects2. Growth of extrinsically n- and p-doped ZnO thin
films• Measure dopant distribution using Dynamic SIMS
3. Carrier concentration and mobility measured via van der Pauw-Hall measurements
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Growth and Deposition• Concentration of zinc:
0.25 M▫ May be decreased to
ensure that oxygen radicals are able to penetrate the entire layer
• Plasma treatment time to be varied depending on Zn:O▫ Plasma with these
attributes can penetrate 20 nm of ZnO
• Dopant concentration: 2 wt.%▫ Concentration will be
varied between 0 and 5 wt.%
• Final film thickness: 200 nm
T. H. D. C. O. T. M. H. G. G. F. J. S. P. I. H. I. J. H. C. M. W. C. a. T. Y. S. H. Park, "Lattice relaxation mechanism of ZnO thin films grown on c-Al2O3 substrates by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 91, p. 231904, 2007.
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Plasma Treatment• Oxygen plasma treatment of sputtered ZnO improved the
stoichiometry of the film through the reduction of oxygen vacancies▫ It was suggested that oxygen radicals occupied the oxygen
vacancies• Oxygen radicals exhibit high diffusivity in oxides
▫ In ZnO, oxygen will traverse 20 nm• Thus, we should plasma treat after the deposition of each
layer
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Choice of Dopant Atoms•Large dopant atoms in ZnO have exhibited
segregation to the interface of the film•Gallium and nitrogen were chosen as n- and
p-dopants due to their close match in radius▫These elements also have appropriately high
solubility limits in ZnO
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Dynamic Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry• Probes composition as a
function of depth• Profile several areas to
verify lateral uniformity
• Time of flight analyzer will be used due to its high sensitivity
(N. O. I. S. S. H. H. H. Manabu Komatsu, "Ga, N solubility limit in co-implanted ZnO measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry," Applied Surface Science, vol. 189, pp. 349-352, 2002.)
Dr. Adair, MatSE 514 Notes
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Deep-Level Transient Spectroscopy• Determines density of states
(DOS) and energy level of a defect population
• Measures capacitance transients produced after a short forward bias pulse
𝜏𝑒=1
𝜎𝑛𝑣 h𝑡 𝑁 𝑐𝑒
(𝐸𝐶−𝐸 𝑡)𝑘𝑇
τe = carrier emission time constantσn = capture cross-section for electronsvth = thermal velocityNc = conduction band effective DOSEc-Et = difference between the conduction band minimum and trap levelk= Boltzmann constantT= temperatureF.D. Auret, J.M. Nel, M. Hayes, L. Wu, W. Wesch, E. Wendler,”Electrical characterization of
growth-induced defects in bulk-grown ZnO,” Superlattices and Microstructures, 39: 1–4, January–April 2006, 17–23.
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van der Pauw-Hall Measurements• Extracts carrier
concentration and mobility▫ To calculate resistivity (ρ),
measure R12,34 and R14,23
▫ To calculate the Hall coefficient (RH), must measure ∆R13,24
• Dopant concentration can be optimized
exp (− 𝜋 𝑑𝜌 𝑅12,34)+exp (− 𝜋 𝑑
𝜌 𝑅14,23)=1
𝑅𝐻=𝑑𝐵 ∆𝑅13,24=
1𝑛𝑞
d= film thickness R= resistanceB= magnetic fieldn= carrier concentrationq= charge of an electron