Formation energy of oxygen vacancies in ZnO determined by investigating thermal behavior of Al and In impurities
- Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University, Kumatori, Osaka 590-0494 (Japan)
Thermal behavior and interacting nature of 100-ppm Al and ∼100-ppt In impurities doped in zinc oxide (ZnO) were investigated by means of the time-differential perturbed angular correlation method with the {sup 111}In(→{sup 111}Cd) probe. Contrasting interactions between Al and In impurities were observed depending on different atmospheric conditions: (1) in air, Al and In impurities irreversibly associate with each other in the process of their thermal diffusion, but (2) in vacuum, their bound state formed in air dissociates by heat treatment at temperatures higher than 873 K, and this process is enhanced with increasing temperature. Detailed investigation of the thermal behavior of the impurities has revealed that the dissociation reaction is triggered by the formation of oxygen vacancies in the vicinity of the locally associated In-Al structure. A unique method to determine the activation energy of the oxygen-vacancy formation is presented with the estimated experimental value of E{sub a} = 0.72(6) eV.
- OSTI ID:
- 22402615
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 18; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
First-principles study of vacancy-assisted impurity diffusion in ZnO
Magnetic Properties of Vacancies and Doped Chromium in a ZnO Crystal