Oxygen partial pressure dependent electrical conductivity type conversion of phosphorus-doped ZnO thin films

In this study, the oxygen partial pressure dependent physical properties of phosphorous-doped ZnO thin films were investigated. All thin films, grown on Al_2O3(0 0 0 1) substrates using pulsed laser deposition, exhibited (0 0 2) orientation regardless of the oxygen partial pressure. However, as the oxygen partial pressure increased, the degree of crystallinity and the concentration of oxygen vacancies in the films decreased. All the thin-film samples showed n-type characteristics except for a sample grown at 100 mTorr, which exhibited p-type characteristics. The optical band gap energy also changed with the oxygen partial pressure. The feasible microscopic mechanism of conductivity conversion is explained in terms of the lattice constant, crystallinity, and the relative roles of the substituted phosphorous in the Zn-site and/or oxygen vacancies depending on the oxygen partial pressure.