The effect of millisecond flash lamp annealing on electrical and structural properties of ZnO:Al/Si structures

Journal Article · Sat May 14 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4948666· OSTI ID:22596975

Lindberg, P. F.; Riise, H. N.; Vines, L.; Svensson, B. G.; Monakhov, E. V. ^[1]; Lipp Bregolin, F.; Wiesenhütter, K.; Wiesenhütter, U.; Prucnal, S.; Skorupa, W. ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, Centre for Materials Science and Nanotechnology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1048, Blindern, N-0316 Oslo (Norway)
2. Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, P.O. Box 510119, 01314 Dresden (Germany)

The effect of millisecond flash lamp annealing (FLA) on aluminum doped ZnO (AZO) films and their interface with Si have been studied. The AZO films were deposited by magnetron sputtering on Si (100) substrates. The electrical and structural properties of the film and AZO/Si structures were characterized by current–voltage, capacitance–voltage, and deep level transient spectroscopy measurements, X-ray diffraction, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The resistivity of the AZO film is reduced to a close to state-of-the-art value of 2 × 10{sup −4} Ω cm after FLA for 3 ms with an average energy density of 29 J/cm{sup 2}. In addition, most of the interfacial defects energy levels are simultaneously annealed out, except for one persisting shallow level, tentatively assigned to the vacancy-oxygen complex in Si, which was not affected by FLA. Subsequent to the FLA, the samples were treated in N{sub 2} or forming gas (FG) (N{sub 2}/H{sub 2}, 90/10%{sub mole}) ambient at 200–500 °C. The latter samples maintained the low resistivity achieved after the FLA, but not the former ones. The interfacial defect level persisting after the FLA is removed by the FG treatment, concurrently as another level emerges at ∼0.18 eV below the conduction band. The electrical data of the AZO films are discussed in term of point defects controlling the resistivity, and it is argued that the FLA promotes formation of electrically neutral clusters of Zink vacancies (V{sub Zn}'s) rather than passivating/compensating complexes between the Al donors and V{sub Zn}'s.

• OSTI ID: 22596975
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 18; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALUMINIUM
ANNEALING
CAPACITANCE
DEEP LEVEL TRANSIENT SPECTROSCOPY
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ENERGY DENSITY
ENERGY LEVELS
FILMS
HYDROGEN
MAGNETRONS
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
OXYGEN
OXYGEN COMPLEXES
SILICON
SUBSTRATES
VACANCIES
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
ZINC OXIDES