Hydrogen in oxides and nitrides: unexpected physics and impact on devices

Controlling the conductivity of wide-band-gap semiconductors is key to enabling applications in electronics and optoelectronics. Many oxides exhibit unintentional n-type conductivity, and oxygen vacancies have been widely discussed as the source of this conductivity. Based on first-principles investigations we have shown that this cannot be true in ZnO and SnO2. We suggest that the conductivity is due to unintentional incorporation of donor impurities, with hydrogen being a likely candidate. Both interstitial and substitutional hydrogen act as shallow donors in a number of oxides. The atomic and electronic structures of these centers is discussed.