Progress in ZnO materials and devices

ZnO is a wide-band-gap semiconductor material that is now being developed for many applications, including ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes, UV photodetectors, transparent thin-film transistors, and gas sensors. It can be grown as boules, as thin films, or as nanostructures of many types and shapes. However, as with any useful semiconductor material, its electrical and optical properties are controlled by impurities and defects. Here, we consider various important donor-type impurities, such as H, Al, Ga, and In, and acceptor-type impurities, such as N, P, As, and Sb. We also examine the effects of a few common point defects, including Zn interstitials, Zn vacancies, O vacancies, and complexes of each. The main experimental techniques of interest here include temperature-dependent Hall-effect and low-temperature photoluminescence measurements, because they alone can provide donor and acceptor concentrations and donor energies. The important topic of p-type ZnO is also considered in some detail.