Zinc oxide as a defect-dominated material in thin films for photovoltaic applications--experimental determination of defect levels, quantification of composition, and construction of band diagram

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP
Maciej KrzywieckiAndreas Erbe

Abstract

In the present work, thin ZnO layers were synthesized by the sol-gel method with subsequent spin-coating on Si(100). We show that the detailed analysis of lab-recorded photoemission spectra in combination with Kelvin probe data yielded the work function, ionization energy, and valence band - Fermi level separation - and hence enabled the construction of band diagrams of the examined layers. With small modifications in preparation, very different films can be obtained. One set shows a homogeneous depth-dependent n carrier distribution, and another a significant carrier concentration gradient from n-type conductivity to almost metal-like n(+) character. Likewise, the surface morphology can be tuned from a uniform, compact surface with spherical single-nm sized grain-like features to a structured surface with 5-10 nm tall crystallites with (002) dominating crystal orientation. Based on the band-bending and the energy levels observed, defects of contradictory nature, i.e. acceptor-donor-trap (ADT) properties, were identified. These defects may be groups of point defects, with opposite character. The ADT states affect the energy levels of the oxide layers and due to their nature cannot be considered in the photoemission experiment a...Continue Reading

References

Nov 5, 2003·Chemphyschem : a European Journal of Chemical Physics and Physical Chemistry·Gianfranco Pacchioni
Mar 29, 2006·Angewandte Chemie·Sebastian PolarzMatthias Driess
Mar 16, 2007·Physical Review Letters·Stephan Lany, Alex Zunger
Dec 17, 2009·Nano Letters·Alejandro L BrisenoPeidong Yang
Sep 25, 2010·Spectrochimica Acta. Part A, Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy·A S KomolovE F Lazneva
May 17, 2013·Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP·Ying ChenAndreas Erbe
Oct 12, 2013·Nanotechnology·D ZappaG Sberveglieri

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Citations

Mar 31, 2018·Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology·Abdulrahman AltinAndreas Erbe
Apr 8, 2020·Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP·Joana RodriguesTeresa Monteiro
Dec 4, 2019·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Nadra I SakrPhillip T Sprunger
Aug 30, 2018·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Mihai Alexandru CiolanMasaaki Nagatsu
Jan 24, 2020·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·Xinyu WangNan Yang

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