Fabrication of p-type Li-doped ZnO films by RF magnetron sputtering

Abstract

The p-type Li-doped ZnO films are successfully deposited on a glass substrate by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The pure, crystalline sputtering target of LiXZn1-XO1-X2 with X in the range of 0-0.003 is fabricated using the powder synthesized by the thermal decomposition of a metal-nitrate-tartrate gel complex at 400°-800°C. The complex is prepared by dissolving nitrates of zinc and lithium in an aqueous solution with nitric and tartaric acids. The resulting compacts, which can be densified at 1400°C, exhibit a decreasing trend of electrical resistivity with increasing Li content. For the composition with 0.2 mol% Li, the p-type Li-doped ZnO film has an electrical resistivity of 1.3 Ω·cm, Hall mobility of 0.77 cm2·(V·s)-1, carrier concentration of 6.67 × 1018 cm-3, and high optical transmittance in the visible region. © 2010 The American Ceramic Society.