Behavior of rapid thermal annealed ZnO:P films grown by pulsed laser deposition

The transport properties of as-deposited and rapid thermal annealed phosphorus-doped ZnO films grown by pulsed laser deposition are reported. As-grown ZnO:P samples showed n-type characteristics, presumably due to the formation of antisite PZn defects. Rapid thermal annealing yielded a carrier-type conversion from n- to p-type for the ZnO:P films grown at ∼700 °C; samples grown at substantially lower or higher temperatures tended to remain n-type even after the thermal annealing process. The properties and behavior of the n-to-p conversion are most consistent with the formation of PZn-2VZn as the active acceptor state. Variable magnetic field Hall measurements confirmed the p-type behavior. Phosphorus doping concentrations in the range of 0.5−1.0 at. % were considered, with evidence for P segregation in the higher phosphorus concentrations.