Abstract
The electron effective mass (\( m_{\text{e}}^{*} \)) of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films is determined using electrical and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements. The effects of different \( m_{\text{e}}^{*} \) used in the literature on electrical transport behavior and optical band gap shift are comparatively investigated to analyze the error qualitatively. The self-contradictory results of electrical transport behavior and the small deviation of optical band gap shift from the fixed \( m_{\text{e}}^{*} \) indicate that the accurate \( m_{\text{e}}^{*} \) has a more significant influence on the analysis of electrical transport behavior than the optical band gap shift. These results can be extended to other materials and provide a guideline to make the relevant analysis more accurate.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kumar SG, Rao KSRK (2015) Zinc oxide based photocatalysis: tailoring surface-bulk structure and related interfacial charge carrier dynamics for better environmental applications. RSC Adv 5:3306–3351
Yang T, Chang X, Chen J, Chou KC, Hou X (2015) B-doped 3C-SiC nanowires with a finned microstructure for efficient visible light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production. Nanoscale 7:8955–8961
Hu B, Xu J, Wang J, Liu B, Du B (2018) Pressure effect on structural and electrical properties of AZO thin films annealed in N2/H2 atmosphere. Mater Lett 232:51–53
Abliz A, Xu L, Wan D, Duan H, Wang J, Wang C, Luo S, Liu C (2019) Effects of yttrium doping on the electrical performances and stability of ZnO thin-film transistors. Appl Surf Sci 475:565–570
Choi Y-J, Gong SC, Park C-S, Lee H-S, Jang JG, Chang HJ, Yeom GY, Park H-H (2013) Improved performance of organic light-emitting diodes fabricated on Al-doped ZnO anodes incorporating a homogeneous Al-doped ZnO buffer layer grown by atomic layer deposition. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 5:3650–3655
Wan D, Huang F, Wang Y, Mou X, Xu F (2010) Highly surface-textured ZnO: Al films fabricated by controlling the nucleation and growth separately for solar cell applications. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2:2147–2152
Zhou J, Wu XZ, Xiao DB, Zhuo M, Jin H, Luo JK, Fu YQ (2017) Deposition of aluminum doped ZnO as electrode for transparent ZnO/glass surface acoustic wave devices. Surf Coat Technol 320:39–46
Kim HJ, Kim J, Kim TH, Lee W-J, Jeon B-G, Park J-Y, Choi WS, Jeong DW, Lee SH, Yu J, Noh TW, Kim KH (2013) Indications of strong neutral impurity scattering in Ba(Sn, Sb)O3single crystals. Phys Rev B 88:125204
Burstein E (1954) Anomalous optical absorption limit in InSb. Phys Rev 93:632–633
Moss TS (1954) The interpretation of the properties of indium antimonide. Proc Phys Soc Sect B 67:775–782
Schmid PE (1981) Optical absorption in heavily doped silicon. Phys Rev B 23:5531–5536
Wang Y, Tang W, Zhu J, Liu J (2015) Strain induced change of band structure and electron effective mass in wurtzite ZnO: a first-principles study. Comput Mater Sci 99:145–149
Hou Q, Xi D, Li W, Jia X, Xu Z (2018) First-principles research on the optical and electrical properties and mechanisms of In-doped ZnO. Physica B 537:258–266
Steinhauser J, Faÿ S, Oliveira N, Vallat-Sauvain E, Ballif C (2007) Transition between grain boundary and intragrain scattering transport mechanisms in boron-doped zinc oxide thin films. Appl Phys Lett 90:142107
Kim Y, Lee W, Jung D-R, Kim J, Nam S, Kim H, Park B (2010) Optical and electronic properties of post-annealed ZnO: Al thin films. Appl Phys Lett 96:171902
Yamada T, Makino H, Yamamoto N, Yamamoto T (2010) Ingrain and grain boundary scattering effects on electron mobility of transparent conducting polycrystalline Ga-doped ZnO films. J Appl Phys 107:123534
Wang Y, Zhu J, Tang W (2014) Extracting the effective mass of electrons in transparent conductive oxide thin films using Seebeck coefficient. Appl Phys Lett 104:212103
Pisarkiewicz T, Zakrzewska K, Leja E (1989) Scattering of charge carriers in transparent and conducting thin oxide films with a non-parabolic conduction band. Thin Solid Films 174:217–223
Park JB, Park SH, Song PK (2010) Electrical and structural properties of In-doped ZnO films deposited by RF superimposed DC magnetron sputtering system. J Phys Chem Solids 71:669–672
Tirumalareddygari SR, Guddeti PR, Ramakrishna Reddy KT (2018) A critical study of the optical and electrical properties of transparent and conductive Mo-doped ZnO films by adjustment of Mo concentration. Appl Surf Sci 458:333–343
Debanath MK, Karmakar S (2013) Study of blueshift of optical band gap in zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles prepared by low-temperature wet chemical method. Mater Lett 111:116–119
Koidis C, Logothetidis S, Kassavetis S, Laskarakis A, Hastas NA, Valassiades O (2010) Growth mechanisms and thickness effect on the properties of Al-doped ZnO thin films grown on polymeric substrates. Phys Status Solidi (a) 207:1581–1585
Raoufi D, Eftekhari L (2015) Crystallography and morphology dependence of In2O3: Sn thin films on deposition rate. Surf Coat Technol 274:44–50
Li Y, Huang Q, Bi X (2013) The change of electrical transport characterizations in Ga doped ZnO films with various thicknesses. J Appl Phys 113:053702
Jia J, Takasaki A, Oka N, Shigesato Y (2012) Experimental observation on the Fermi level shift in polycrystalline Al-doped ZnO films. J Appl Phys 112:013718
Kim JS, Jeong JH, Park JK, Baik YJ, Kim IH, Seong TY, Kim WM (2012) Optical analysis of doped ZnO thin films using nonparabolic conduction-band parameters. J Appl Phys 111:123507
Singh AV, Mehra RM, Yoshida A, Wakahara A (2004) Doping mechanism in aluminum doped zinc oxide films. J Appl Phys 95:3640–3643
Fujiwara H, Kondo M (2005) Effects of carrier concentration on the dielectric function of ZnO: Ga andIn2O3: Snstudied by spectroscopic ellipsometry: Analysis of free-carrier and band-edge absorption. Phys Rev B 71:075109
Liu X, Park J, Kang J-H, Yuan H, Cui Y, Hwang HY, Brongersma ML (2014) Quantification and impact of nonparabolicity of the conduction band of indium tin oxide on its plasmonic properties. Appl Phys Lett 105:181117
Gondorf A, Geller M, Weißbon J, Lorke A, Inhester M, Prodi-Schwab A, Adam D (2011) Mobility and carrier density in nanoporous indium tin oxide films. Phys Rev B 83:212201
Song H, Makino H, Nomoto J, Yamamoto N, Yamamoto T (2018) Improved moisture stability of thin Ga-doped ZnO films by indium codoping. Appl Surf Sci 457:241–246
Wang Y, Tang W, Zhang L, Zhao J (2014) Electron concentration dependence of optical band gap shift in Ga-doped ZnO thin films by magnetron sputtering. Thin Solid Films 565:62–68
Lu JG, Fujita S, Kawaharamura T, Nishinaka H, Kamada Y, Ohshima T, Ye ZZ, Zeng YJ, Zhang YZ, Zhu LP, He HP, Zhao BH (2007) Carrier concentration dependence of band gap shift in n-type ZnO: Al films. J Appl Phys 101:083705
Sans JA, Sánchez-Royo JF, Segura A, Tobias G, Canadell E (2009) Chemical effects on the optical band-gap of heavily doped ZnO: M (M = Al, Ga, In): an investigation by means of photoelectron spectroscopy, optical measurements under pressure, and band structure calculations. Phys Rev B 79:195105
Hung-Chun Lai H, Basheer T, Kuznetsov VL, Egdell RG, Jacobs RMJ, Pepper M, Edwards PP (2012) Dopant-induced bandgap shift in Al-doped ZnO thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis. J Appl Phys 112:083708
Sernelius BE, Berggren KF, Jin ZC, Hamberg I, Granqvist CG (1988) Band-gap tailoring of ZnO by means of heavy Al doping. Phys Rev B 37:10244–10248
Jain SC, McGregor JM, Roulston DJ (1990) Band-gap narrowing in novel III–V semiconductors. J Appl Phys 68:3747–3749
Wang Y, Tang W, Liu J, Zhang L (2015) Stress-induced anomalous shift of optical band gap in Ga-doped ZnO thin films: Experimental and first-principles study. Appl Phys Lett 106:162101
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by The National Key Specialty Construction Project of Clinical Pharmacy (Grant No. 30305030698).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jing, C., Shi, J. & Tang, W. The measured essentiality of electron effective mass on electron transport behavior and optical band gap in Ga-doped ZnO thin films. J Mater Sci 54, 12659–12667 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-03775-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-03775-3