Dual codoping for the fabrication of low resistive p-ZnO

Highlights: ► Dual codoping has been proposed to fabricate low resistive and stable p-ZnO thin films. ► As–Al–N dual codoped ZnO films have been grown on GaAs substrate by RF magnetron sputtering using AlN doped ZnO targets. ► The dual codoped film showed strong p-conductivity with hole concentration of 4.72 × 1020 cm−3 and low resistivity of 8.6 × 10−2 Ω cm. - Abstract: A dual codoping method has been proposed to fabricate low resistive and stable p-ZnO thin films. Both nitrogen (N) and arsenic (As) have been used as acceptors while aluminum (Al) as donor in our dual codoping process. The As–Al–N dual codoped ZnO films have been prepared by RF magnetron sputtering on GaAs substrate using AlN doped ZnO targets (0.5, 1 and 2 mol%). In our dual codoping approach, Al and N from target and As from GaAs substrate (back diffusion) take part. X-ray diffraction (XRD), room temperature and low temperature photoluminescence (PL), electron probe micro analysis (EPMA), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Hall effect measurement have been performed to investigate the effect of AlN concentration on the dual codoped ZnO films. All the films (0, 0.5 and 1 mol%) showed p-type conductivity except 2 mol% AlN doped film. The lowest room temperature resistivity, 8.6 × 10−2 Ω cm has been achieved with a hole concentration of the order, 1020 cm−3 for the optimum 1 mol% AlN concentration. The observed resistivity is much lower than that of monodoped (As or N) and codoped (AlN or AlAs) ZnO films. The p-type conductivity has been explained by the new complex formation mechanism.