The effects of deposition temperature and ambient on the physical and electrical performance of DC-sputtered n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction

The effects of deposition conditions on the physical and electrical performance of the n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction were systematically investigated. ZnO films were deposited on the Si and glass substrates using direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering with various ambients and substrate temperatures. The results showed that increasing the O₂ content and substrate temperature during the deposition process could improve the crystallinity and stoichiometry of the ZnO film, resulting in a lower carrier concentration and higher resistivity. The electrical properties of the n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunctions were also affected by the deposition parameters. For the junctions fabricated in the pure Ar ambient, the sample deposited at room temperature (RT) showed Ohmic behavior, while the one deposited at 300?°C exhibited poor rectifying behavior. On the other hand, the junctions fabricated in the O₂/Ar ambient possessed ideal rectifying behaviors. The different carrier transport mechanisms for the heterojunctions under forward and reverse bias were systematically studied using a high temperature current–voltage (I-V) measurement. The recombination-tunneling current showed temperature insensitive performance while the space-charge limited current (SCLC) changed with the measurement temperature.     

Au/(SiO2/Si/SiO2)纳米双势垒/n+-Si结构的电致发光研究

利用射频磁控溅射方法,在n⁺-Si衬底上淀积SiO₂/Si/SiO_{2纳米双势垒单势阱结构,其中Si层厚度为2至4nm,间隔为0.2nm,邻近n⁺-S i衬底的SiO2层厚度固定为1.5nm,另一SiO2层厚度固定为3nm.为了 对比研究,还制备了Si层厚度为零的结构,即SiO2(4.5nm)/n⁺-Si 结构.在经过600℃氮气下退火30min,正面蒸上半透明Au膜,背面也蒸Au作欧姆接触后,所 有样品都在反向偏置(n^＋-Si的电压高于Au电极的电压)下发光,而在正向偏压 下不发光.在一定的反向偏置下,电流和电致发光强度都随Si层厚度的增加而同步振荡,位 相相同.所有样品的电致发光谱都可分解为相对高度不等的中心位于2.26eV(550nm)和1.85eV (670nm)两个高斯型发光峰.分析指出该结构电致发光的机制是：反向偏压下的强电场使Au/( SiO2/Si/SiO2)纳米双势垒/n⁺-Si结构发生了雪崩击穿 ,产生大量的电子-空穴对,它们在纳米SiO2层中的发光中心(缺陷或杂质)上复 合而发光. 关键词： 电致发光 纳米双势垒 高斯型发光峰 雪崩击穿}     

van der Waals gap-inserted light-emitting p–n heterojunction of ZnO nanorods/graphene/p-GaN film

We report on the electroluminescent (EL) and electrical characteristics of graphene-inserted ZnO nanorods (NRs)/p-GaN heterojunction diode. In a comparative study, ZnO NRs/p-GaN and ZnO NRs/graphene/p-GaN heterojunctions exhibit white and yellow EL emissions, respectively, at reverse bias (rb) voltages. The different EL colors are results of different dichromatic EL peak intensity ratios between 2.25 and 2.8 eV light emissions which are originated from ZnO and p-GaN sides, respectively. The 2.25 eV EL is predominant in both the heterojunctions, because of recombination by numerous electrons tunneled from p-GaN to ZnO across the thin barriers of the staggered broken gap with a large band offset in ZnO/p-GaN and the van der Waals (vdW) gap formed by graphene insertion at ZnO NRs/p-GaN. However, as for the 2.8 eV EL intensity, ZnO NRs/graphene/p-GaN hardly shows the EL emission, whereas ZnO NRs/p-GaN exhibits the substantially strong EL peak. We discuss that the significantly reduced 2.8 eV EL emission of ZnO NRs/graphene/p-GaN is a result of decreased depletion layer thickness at p-GaN side where the recombination events occur for 2.8 eV EL before the reverse bias-driven tunneling because the insertion of graphene (or vdW gap barrier) inhibits the carrier diffusion whose amount determines the depletion thickness when forming the heterojunctions. This study opens a way of suppressing (or enhancing) the specific EL wavelength for the dichromatic EL-emitting heterojunctions simply by inserting atom-thick vdW layer.     

Dopant-dependence of one-step metal-induced dopant activation process in silicon

We investigate dopant-dependence of low temperature dopant activation technique in α-Si featuring one-step metal-induced crystallization (MIC) to decrease resistivity of p⁺ and n⁺ Si films by forming Ni_xSi_y. Ni not only crystallizes p-type α-Si film but also facilitates activation of boron atoms in the α-Si during the crystallization at 500 °C. However, phosphorus atoms are poorly activated because of the suppressed Ni-MIC rate in n-type α-Si. Finally, p⁺/n and n⁺/p junction diodes are demonstrated on single crystalline Si substrates by the low temperature dopant activation technique promising for high performance TFTs as well as transistors with an elevated S/D.     

The luminescence of ZnO film grown on GaAs interlayer by PA-MOCVD

ZnO film was firstly prepared by PA-MOCVD method on the substrate pre-coated with GaAs interlayer. Hall measurement found that the GaAs interlayer had important effects on the electrical behavior of the ZnO film. It could make the ZnO film convert to p-type conductivity. The XPS results confirmed that the acceptor was arsenic. And the acceptor level was 130 meV above the ZnO valence band maximum. Low-temperature PL measurement was introduced to investigate the optical properties of both as-grown n-type and arsenic doped p-type ZnO films. Then, based on this technology, ZnO homojunction light emitting device (LED) was fabricated with arsenic doped p-type ZnO and unintentionally doped n-type ZnO on GaAs/p⁺-Si substrate. Its current-voltage (I-V) character showed a typical rectification behavior, which was different from the n-ZnO/p⁺-Si structure. The UV-visible (385-580 nm) electroluminescence was detected under relatively low current injection condition from the n-ZnO/p-ZnO/p⁺-Si LED.     

Tunability of UV electroluminescence for n-ZnO:Al/n −-ZnO/i-MgO/n-GaN heterostructured light-emitting diodes

n-ZnO:Al/n ^?-ZnO/i-MgO/n-GaN heterostructured diodes have been fabricated by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The electroluminescence (EL) of the n-ZnO:Al/n ^?-ZnO/i-MgO/n-GaN diodes has been investigated. All EL spectra are dominated by ultraviolet (UV) emission peaked at around 368 nm. However, EL performances of the devices can be tuned through controlling the electrical parameters of ZnO:Al films. With the variation of the ZnO:Al films, EL spectra could evolve into random lasing action from conventional EL. The electrical parameters of the corresponding ZnO:Al films were researched, and the related UV emission mechanism is discussed in terms of the energy-band theory of the heterojunctions.     

PL and EL characterizations of ZnO:Eu, Li films derived by sol-gel process

ZnO:Eu³⁺, Li⁺ films prepared by the dip-coating method were characterized by photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL). When the ZnO:Eu³⁺, Li⁺ films were excited using UV light with energy corresponding to the band-to-band excitation of the host matrix, the PL spectra showed emissions from both ZnO and Eu³⁺ ions, while their EL spectra showed emissions only from Eu³⁺ ions, and no emission from ZnO could be detected. It is found that the EL emission intensity B is dependent on the applied voltage, B=B_o exp(−bV^−1/2). With increasing frequency, the EL intensity dramatically increases at lower frequencies (<1000 Hz), and then increases gradually at higher frequencies (>1000 Hz).     

Fabrication and electrical characterization of nanocrystalline ZnO/Si heterojunctions

Nanocrystalline zinc oxide (nc-ZnO) films were prepared by a sol-gel process on p-type single-crystalline Si substrates to fabricate nc-ZnO/p-Si heterojunctions. The structure and morphology of ZnO films on Si substrates, which were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM), showed that ZnO films consisted of 50-100 nm polycrystalline nanograins with hexagonal wurtzite structure. The electrical transport properties of the nc-ZnO/p-Si heterojunctions were investigated by temperature-dependent current-voltage (I-V) measurements and room temperature capacitance-voltage measurements. The temperature-dependent I-V characteristics revealed that the forward conduction was determined by multi-step tunneling current, and the activation energy of saturation current was about 0.26 eV. The 1/C²-V plots indicated the junction was abrupt and the junction built-in potential was 1.49 V at room temperature.     

ZnO:Ag film growth on Si substrate with ZnO buffer layer by rf sputtering

ZnO buffer layers were deposited on n-Si (1 0 0) substrate by rf magnetron sputtering at a lower power of 40 W. Then Ag-doped ZnO (SZO) films were deposited on buffered and non-buffered Si at a higher sputtering power of 100 W. The effects of buffer layer on the structural, electrical and optical properties of SZO films were investigated. The three-dimensional island growth process of ZnO buffer layer was discussed. The energy band diagram of p-SZO/n-Si heterojunction was constructed based on Anderson's model. Results show the ZnO buffer layer leads to better properties of SZO film, including larger grain size, smoother surface, higher carrier mobility, better rectifying behavior, lower interface state density, and weaker deep-level emission. It is because the ZnO buffer layer effectively relaxes the partial stress induced by the large lattice mismatch between SZO and Si.     

Large-quantity synthesis of ZnO hollow objects by thermal evaporation: Growth mechanism, structural and optical properties

Synthesis of large-quantity uniformly distributed ZnO hollow objects, i.e. cages and spheres have been performed on Si(1 0 0) and steel alloy substrates by the direct heating of metallic zinc powder in the presence of oxygen. Extensive structural observations revealed that the formed products are crystalline ZnO with the wurtzite hexagonal phases. The Raman-active optical phonon E₂ modes, attributed to wurtzite hexagonal phase of ZnO, were observed at 437 cm⁻¹ for the products grown on both the substrates. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectra showed a broad band in the visible region with a suppressed UV emission, indicating the presence of oxygen vacancies and structural defects in the as-grown structures. Additionally, post growth annealing was also carried out to further investigate the photoluminescence properties of the as-grown products. It was observed that the formation of hollow objects consists of several stages which include the formation of Zn clusters, oxidation on the sheath and sublimation/evaporation of the Zn from the interiors, resulted in the formation of hollow objects.     

Improvement of <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-ZnO/<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Si photodiodes by embedding of silver nanoparticles

The photo-current of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction photodiodes was improved by embedding Ag nanoparticles in the interface (ZnO/nano-P_Ag/p-Si), and the ratio between photo- and dark-current increased by about three orders more than that of a n-ZnO/p-Si specimen. The improvement in the photo-current resulted from the light scattering of embedded Ag nanoparticles. The I–V curve of n-ZnO/p-Si degraded after thermal treatment (A-ZnO/p-Si) because the silicon robbed the oxygen from ZnO to form amorphous silicon dioxide and left an oxygen vacancy. Notably, the properties of ZnO/nano-P_Ag/p-Si were better in the time-dependent photoresponse under 10 V bias. Ag nanoparticles (15–20 nm) scattered the UV light randomly and increased the probability for the absorption of ZnO to enhance the properties of the photodiode.     

Photoluminescence of ZnO films prepared by r.f. sputtering on different substrates

Polycrystalline ZnO films with good orientation were deposited on sapphire, quartz, Si and 7059 glass substrates by r.f. magnetron sputtering. A strong UV photoluminescence (PL) peak (located at 356 nm) and a weak blue emission peak (located at 446 nm) were observed at room temperature (RT) for the films deposited on sapphire, quartz and Si substrates when excited with 270 nm light. For the films prepared on Corning 7059 glass, only a strong 446 nm blue emission peak was found, and the PL intensity decreased with increasing oxygen pressure during films deposition. The intensity of the UV emission increased 7 and 14 times, respectively, for the films on sapphire and quartz substrates after high temperature annealing in vacuum. The UV emission originates from the inter-band transition of electrons and the blue emission is due to transition of electrons from the shallow donor level of the oxygen vacancies to the valence band.     

Electronic properties of the metal/organic interlayer/inorganic semiconductor sandwich device

In this study, we prepared a Metal(Al)/Organic Interlayer(Congo Red=CR)/Inorganic Semiconductor (p-Si) (MIS) Schottky device formed by coating of an organic film on p-Si semiconductor wafer. The Al/CR/p-Si MIS device had a good rectifying behavior. By using the forward bias I-V characteristics, the values of ideality factor (n) and barrier height (Φ_b) for the Al/CR/p-Si MIS device were obtained as 1.68 and 0.77 eV, respectively. It was seen that the Φ_b value of 0.77 eV calculated for the Al/CR/p-Si MIS device was significantly higher than value of 0.50 eV of the conventional Al/p-Si Schottky diodes. Modification of the interfacial potential barrier of the Al/p-Si diode was achieved by using a thin interlayer of the CR organic material. This was attributed to the fact that the CR organic interlayer increased the effective barrier height by influencing the space charge region of Si. The interface-state density of the MIS diode was found to vary from 1.24×10¹³ to 2.44×10¹² eV⁻¹ cm⁻².     

Effects of oxygen plasma pre-treatments on the characteristics of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diodes

We examine the effects of the oxygen plasma pre-treatments on the material properties of n-ZnO grown on p-Si and characterize the electrical properties of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diodes. The lattice spacing of ZnO becomes larger when the ZnO thin film is grown on the oxygen plasma pre-treated Si substrate. This might be relevant to the growth of (101) ZnO onto the ultra-thin SiO₂ interfacial layer, which is formed during the oxygen plasma pre-treatment onto the Si substrate. The formation of SiO₂ gives rise to the increase in the donor-like defect Zn interstitial, and the increased grain size improves the carrier mobility. Because of all the above, the differential conductance at the on-state is increased for the n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode.     

ZnO-based heterojunction light-emitting diodes on p-SiC(4H) grown by atomic layer deposition

Atomic layer deposition was used to grow n-type Al-doped ZnO (n-ZnO) and undoped ZnO (i-ZnO) layers on p-type 4H-SiC substrates, to fabricate n-ZnO/p-SiC and n-ZnO/i-ZnO/p-SiC heterojunction light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Electroluminescence (EL) from the n-ZnO/p-SiC LED originated from radiative recombination of donor–acceptor pairs in SiC due to the predominant electron injection from n-ZnO into p-SiC. On the other hand, the n-ZnO/i-ZnO/p-SiC LED exhibited dominant ultraviolet (UV) emission at 393 nm from ZnO. This difference is attributable to the insertion of the undoped i-ZnO layer between n-ZnO and p-SiC, leading to the injection of holes from p-SiC and electrons from n-ZnO into the i-ZnO layer and thus the generation of UV EL from ZnO.     

Well-aligned ZnO microprism arrays with umbrella-like tips: Low-temperature preparation, structure and UV photoluminescence improvement

Catalyst-free, low-temperature (430 °C), high-density, well-aligned, single-crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) microprism (ZMP) arrays have been synthesized over the entire c-ZnO/poly-Zn-coated Si substrates by simple thermal evaporation of Zn powder. Specially, the microprisms obtained possess hexagonal umbrella-like tips on which vertical thin ZnO nanowires grow. The growth mechanism of a three-stage thermodynamic process was discussed. Photoluminescence spectra show a strong ultraviolet (UV) emission enhancement of the ZMPs after H⁺ (hydrogen ions) implantation. This kind of special ZnO microstructure may find potential applications in field emission, UV laser emission devices, multifunctional microdevices and highly integrated multichannel nano-optoelectronic devices.     

Electroluminescence from nano-crystalline Si/ SiO2 structures embedded in pn junctions

Phosphorous-doped and boron-doped amorphous Si thin films as well as amorphous SiO₂/Si/ SiO₂ sandwiched structures were prepared in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system. Then, the p–i–n structures containing nano-crystalline Si/ SiO₂ sandwiched structures as the intrinsic layer were prepared in situ followed by thermal annealing. Electroluminescence spectra were measured at room temperature under forward bias, and it is found that the electroluminescence intensity is strongly influenced by the types of substrate. The turn-on voltages can be reduced to 3 V for samples prepared on heavily doped p-type Si (p⁺-Si) substrates and the corresponding electroluminescence intensity is more than two orders of magnitude stronger than that on lightly doped p-type Si (p-Si) and ITO glass substrates. The improvements of light emission can be ascribed to enhanced hole injection and the consequent recombination of electron–hole pairs in the luminescent nanocrystalline Si/ SiO₂ system.     

Porous Silicon as an Intermediate Buffer Layer for Zinc Oxide Nanorods

Zinc thin films were deposited onto porous silicon (PSi) substrates by dc sputtering using a Zn target. These films were then annealed under flowing (6 l/min) oxygen gas environment in the furnace at 600°C for 2 h. Porous silicon is used as an intermediate layer between silicon and ZnO films and it provides a large area composed of an array of voids. The PSi samples were prepared using photoelectrochemical method on n-type silicon wafer with (111) and (100) orientation. To prepare porous structures, the samples were dipped into a mixture of HF:ethanol (1:1) for 5 min with current densities of 50 mA/cm², and subjected to external illumination with a 500 W UV lamp. The surface morphology and the nanorod structure of the ZnO films were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). We synthesized the ZnO nanorods with diameter of 80–100 nm without any catalysts or templates. The XRD pattern confirmed that the ZnO nanorods were of polycrystalline structure. The surface-related optical properties have been investigated by photoluminescence (PL) and Raman measurements at room temperature. Micro-Raman results showed that A₁(LO) of hexagonal ZnO/Si(111) and ZnO/Si(100) have been observed at 522 cm^–1 and 530 cm^–1, respectively. PL spectra peaks are clearly visible at 366 cm^–1 and 368 cm^–1 for ZnO film grown on porous Si(111) and Si(100) substrates, respectively. The PL spectral peak position in ZnO nanorods on porous silicon is blue-shifted with respect to that in unstrained ZnO (381 nm).     

Local structure of porous silicon studied by means of X-ray emission spectroscopy

2,3 X-ray emission spectra of porous silicon (P-Si) and of spark-processed silicon (sp-Si). Both types of Si-structure display strong photoluminescence in the visible range of the spectrum. Porous samples were prepared by anodization of n^-- and p⁺-Si-wafers. Whereas for the P-Si processed from p⁺-Si the presence of some amorphous silicon is detected, the X-ray emission spectra of porous Si prepared from n^--Si display a higher content of SiO₂. For spark-processed Si the Si L_2,3 X-ray emission spectra reveal a much stronger degree of oxidation which extends to depths larger than 10000 Å. Furthermore, the chemical state of silicon atoms of sp-Si measured at the center of the processed area is close to that of silicon dioxide, and it has an influence on the photoluminescence energy. Specifically, green photoluminescent sp-Si shows a higher degree of oxidation than the blue luminescent specimen. However, the depth of oxidation consistently decreases in areas with weak or no PL. Possible origins of the observed photoluminescence are discussed. Accepted: 6 March 1997     

Temperature behaviour of optical properties of Si+-implanted SiO2

Silicon nanocrystals were prepared by Si⁺-ion implantation and subsequent annealing of SiO₂ films thermally grown on a c-Si wafer. Different implantation energies (20-150 keV) and doses - cm ^-2 ) were used in order to achieve flat implantation profiles (through the thickness of about 100 nm) with a peak concentration of Si atoms of 5, 7, 10 and 15 atomic%. The presence of Si nanocrystals was verified by transmission electron microscopy. The samples exhibit strong visible/IR photoluminescence (PL) with decay time of the order of tens of μs at room temperature. The changes of PL in the range 70-300 K can be well explained by the exciton singlet-triplet splitting model. We show that all PL characteristics (efficiency, dynamics, temperature dependence, excitation spectra) of our Si⁺-implanted SiO₂ films bear close resemblance to those of a light-emitting porous Si and therefore we suppose similar PL origin in both materials. Received 1st September 1998 and Received in final form 7 September 1999