p-type conduction in beryllium-implanted hexagonal boron nitride films

p-type conduction in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) films was achieved by beryllium implantation and subsequent rapid thermal annealing treatment. The dependence of phase composition and electrical properties of hBN films on the implantation fluence and annealing was studied. A maximum resistivity reduction by six orders of magnitude was demonstrated. Hall measurements revealed a corresponding hole concentration of 3 x 10(19) cm(-3) and mobility of 27 cm(2)/V s. The activation energy of Be ions was estimated to be 0.21 eV. It is suggested that hBN is a promising wide bandgap semiconductor for applications in high-temperature electronic devices and transparent conductive coatings. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3276065]