Doping mechanism in aluminum doped zinc oxide films

The doping mechanism in aluminum doped zinc oxide films has been interpreted by considering the relationship between Hall mobility and effective mass of electrons with carrier concentrations. Both degeneracy and the nonparabolic nature of the conduction band are taken into account for determining the charge state of the dopant. It is ascertained that aluminum liberates one free carrier in the zinc oxide lattice by substituting the zinc atom. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.