Hot probe measurements of n-type conduction in Sb-doped ZnO microwires

Abstract

The charge carriers type in antimony-doped ZnO (ZnO:Sb) microwires was studied using the hot probe technique. The wires were grown by a simple thermal evaporation method. Contrary to the expected p-type behavior reported for Sb doped ZnO thin films and nanowires, our hot probe measurements of representative single Sb-doped ZnO wires show a stable n-type behavior. The hot probe technique is a simple and efficient way to determine the charge carrier type from thermoelectric measurements on a single semiconductor wire and could offer an alternative to Hall effect measurements. The technique relies on creating a temperature gradient across the wire (i.e., heating one side of the wire relative to the other) and monitoring the resulting open-circuit voltage between the two ends. We also performed Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy measurements to identify and monitor the elemental composition in these ZnO:Sb wires.