Excess capacitance of ZnO-Au varactors

Doped ZnO single crystals were deposited with gold and indium in 1×10^–8 Torr vacuum. The lithium-doped ZnO single crystals and the gold interface revealed not only a Schottky diode but also varactor characteristics. TheI-V andC-V characteristics of ZnO:Li-Au devices were determined in the 0–140 mV and 0–1.5 V ranges.The frequency dependence of ZnO:Li-Au varactors was investigated in the 6–550 kHz range and the value of the most efficient varactor frequency was found to be 50 kHz for the lithium-doped samples prepared.To bring further insight into the matter the concept of excess capacitance was introduced and 1/C²=f(–V) curves were rearranged between 0–150 mV where Schottky characteristics are non-linear. The excess capacitance values of lithium-doped varactors were determined at four different frequencies and ranged from 26 pF at 50 kHz to 70 pF at 6kHz.Finally, the bulk donor concentrations of the single crystals were calculated from the modifiedC-V curves to beN_D= 3×10²⁰ m^–3. On the other hand, the bulk donor concentration determined from the non-modifiedC-V curves wasN_D=1.02×10²² m^–3.