Annealing study of Sb and Al ion-implanted ZnO

In this work we have studied diffusion and electrical activation in Al⁺ and Sb⁺ implanted ZnO samples using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM) and scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM). The samples were hydrothermally grown and post-implant annealing was performed at 800, 900 and 1000 C in pure oxygen atmosphere. After each annealing step the samples were characterized with SSRM/SCM and SIMS. The thermal treatments did not induce any significant impurity redistribution as measured by SIMS, while electrical compensation is observed by SSRM/SCM for the Sb-implanted sample yielding less n-doping than in the as-grown samples. In the Al-implanted samples, an increase in carrier concentration is observed; we ascribe this to Al-related donors and possibly interstitial lithium, a common residual impurity in the samples that have been shown to be very mobile by SIMS.