Electronic transport in highly conducting Si-doped ZnO thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Highly conducting (rho = 3.9 x 10(-4) Omega cm) and transparent (83%) polycrystalline Si-doped ZnO (SiZO) thin films have been deposited onto borosilicate glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition from (ZnO)(1-x)(SiO2)(x) (0 <= x <= 0.05) ceramic targets prepared using a sol-gel technique. Along with their structural, chemical, and optical properties, the electronic transport within these SiZO samples has been investigated as a function of silicon doping level and temperature. Measurements made between 80 and 350K reveal an almost temperature-independent carrier concentration consistent with degenerate metallic conduction in all of these samples. The temperature-dependent Hall mobility has been modeled by considering the varying contribution of grain boundary and electron-phonon scattering in samples with different nominal silicon concentrations. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.