Properties of nitrogen-implanted <i>p</i>-type ZnO films grown on Si3N4/Si by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

Abstract

An nitrogen-implanted p-type ZnO film has been grown on a Si substrate buffered with Si3N4 using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The Si3N4 buffer layer can effectively improve film stoichiometry and reduce the formation of oxygen vacancies compared to ZnO on Si. The electrical properties of the p-type ZnO films implanted with 5×1012–1×1014 cm−2 N+ dose show a hole concentration of 5.0×1016–7.3×1017 cm−3, hole mobility of 2.51–6.02 cm2/V s, and resistivity of 10.11–15.3 Ω cm. The p-type ZnO films also showed an excellent crystallinity and a strong ultraviolet emission peak near 3.30 eV at room temperature. Moreover, as evidenced by extended x-ray absorption fine structure analysis, the local structure of the p-type ZnO films was changed due to the substitution of nitrogen ions for oxygen ions in p-type ZnO films. Our finding of p-type ZnO films grown on a Si3N4/Si substrate could provide a simple method to fabricate reproducible p-type ZnO films on silicon substrate for the development of large-scale optoelectronic integration device.