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Title: Effects of the d-donor level of vanadium on the properties of Zn{sub 1−x}V{sub x}O films

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4919791· OSTI ID:22398999
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
  2. CEI Campus Moncloa, UCM-UPM, Madrid 28040 (Spain)
  3. Dpto. de Física Aplicada III (Electricidad y Electrónica), Univ. Complutense de Madrid, Madrid 28040 (Spain)

We report the effect of d-levels of vanadium atoms on the electronic band structure of ZnO. Polycrystalline layers of Zn{sub 1−x}V{sub x}O with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.08 were synthesized using magnetron sputtering technique. Electrical measurements show that electron concentration increases with vanadium up to x = 0.04 and then decreases and films become insulating for x > 0.06. Optical characterization reveals that the absorption edge shifts to higher energy, while the photoluminescence (PL) peak shows a shift to lower energy with increasing vanadium content. This unusual optical behavior can be explained by an anticrossing interaction between the vanadium d-levels and the conduction band (CB) of ZnO. The interaction results in an upward shift of unoccupied CB (E{sub +}) and the downward shift of the fully occupied E{sub −} band derived from the vanadium d-levels. The composition dependence of optical absorption edge (E{sub +}) and PL peak (E{sub −}) can be fitted using the Band Anticrossing model with the vanadium d-level located at 0.13 eV below CB of ZnO and a coupling constant of 0.65 eV.

OSTI ID:
22398999
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 18; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English