Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T00:20:26.530Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Growth of Highly Doped P-Type Znte Films by Pulsed Laser ablation in Molecular Nitrogen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

Douglas H. Lowndes ,
C. M. Rouleau ,
J. W. Mccamy ,
J. D. Budai ,
D. B. Poker ,
D. B. Geohegan ,
A. Puretzky  and
Shen Zhu
Douglas H. Lowndes
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6056
C. M. Rouleau
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6056 ORISE postdoctoral researcher
J. W. Mccamy
Affiliation:
Division of applied Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
J. D. Budai
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6056
D. B. Poker
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6056
D. B. Geohegan
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6056
A. Puretzky
Affiliation:
Institute of Spectroscopy, Troitsk, Russia
Shen Zhu
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,P. O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6056 Now at Dept. of Physics, U. of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
Get access

Abstract

Highly p-doped ZnTe films have been grown on semi-insulating GaAs (001) substrates by pulsed-laser ablation (PLA) of a stoichiometric ZnTe target in a high-purity N2 ambient without the use of any assisting (DC or aC) plasma source. Free hole concentrations in the mid-1019 cm-3 to 1020 cm-3 range were obtained for a range of nitrogen pressures the maximum hole concentration equals the highest hole doping reported to date for any wide band gap II-VI compound. the highest hole mobilities were attained for nitrogen pressures of 50–100 mTorr (~6.5–13 Pa). Unlike recent experiments in which atomic nitrogen beams, extracted from RF and DC plasma sources, were used to produce p-type doping during molecular beam epitaxy deposition, spectroscopic measurements carried out during PLA of ZnTe in N2 do not reveal the presence of atomic nitrogen. This suggests that the high hole concentrations in laser ablated ZnTe are produced by a new and different mechanism, possibly energetic beam-induced reactions with excited molecular nitrogen adsorbed on the growing film surface, or transient formation of Zn-N complexes in the energetic ablation plume. This appears to be the first time that any wide band gap (Eg 2 eV) II-VI compound (or other) semiconductor has been impurity-doped from the gas phase by laser ablation. In combination with the recent discovery that epitaxial ZnSe1-xSx films and heterostructures with continuously variable composition can be grown by ablation from a single target of fixed composition, these results appear to open the way to explore PLA growth and doping of compound semiconductors as a possible alternative to molecular beam epitaxy.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 388: Symposium Q – Film Synthesis and Growth Using Energetic Beams , 1995 , 85
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Park, R. M. et al. , Appl. Phys. Lett. 57, 2127 (1990).Google Scholar
2 Ohkawa, K., Karasawa, T., and Mitsuyu, T., Jap. J. appl. Phys. 30, L152 (1991).Google Scholar
3 Haase, M., Qiu, J., DePuydt, J., and Cheng, H., Appl. Phys. Lett. 59, 1272 (1991).Google Scholar
4 Jeon, H. et al. , Appl. Phys. Lett. 60, 2045 (1992).Google Scholar
5 Han, J. et al. , Appl. Phys. Lett. 62, 840 (1993).Google Scholar
6 Fan, Y. et al. , Appl. Phys. Lett. 61, 3160 (1992).Google Scholar
7 P, R.. Vaudo, Cook, J. W. Jr., and Schetzina, J. F., J. Cryst. Growth 138, 430 (1994).Google Scholar
8 Ferreira, S. O. et al. , J. Cryst. Growth 140, 282 (1994).Google Scholar
9 Baron, T. et al. , Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 1284 (1994).Google Scholar
10 Shen, W. P. and Kwok, H. S., Fall 1993 annual Mtg. of the Mater. Rres. Soc., Boston, MA (to be published, 1994).Google Scholar
11 Compaan, A. et al. , p. 957 in Proc. 22nd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conf., IEEE, 1991.Google Scholar
12 Compaan, A. and Bhat, A., Int. J. Solar Energy 12, 155 (1992).Google Scholar
13 Dubowski, J. J. et al. , Superlattices and Microstructures 9, 327 (1991).Google Scholar
14 Labrie, D. and Dubowski, J. J., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 285, 465 (1993).Google Scholar
15 Wrobel, J. M. and Dubowski, J. J., Appl. Phys. Lett. 55, 469 (1989).Google Scholar
16 Dubowski, J. J., J. Cryst. Growth 101, 105 (1990).Google Scholar
17 Dubowski, J. J., private communication.Google Scholar
18 Harper, R. L. Jr. et al. , J. appl. Phys. 65, 624 (1989).Google Scholar
19 Lowndes, D. H., "Growth of Epitaxial Thin Films by Pulsed Laser ablation", in Modern Topics in Single Crystal Growth, amer. INst. of Physics (Eighth int. Summer School on Crystal Growth, Palm Springs, CA, aug. 9-15, 1992), in press.Google Scholar
20 The 99.999% pure ZnTe target was prepared by isostatic hot pressing at Plasmetrics, inc., San Ramon, CA.Google Scholar
21 We find that the areal density of particulates on PLA compound semiconductor films is much lower than for oxide ceramics. by using the techniques that we and others have developed to minimize particulate production due to target "coning" and damage, nearly particulate-free compound semiconductor films can be obtained.Google Scholar
22 McCamy, J. W., Lowndes, D. H., and Budai, J. D., Appl. Phys. Lett. 63, 3008 (1993).Google Scholar
23 Geohegan, D. B., p. 115 in Pulsed Laser Deposition of Thin Films, ed. by Chrisey, D. B. and Hubler, G. K., Wiley, New York, 1994.Google Scholar
24 Abramof, E. et al. , Semicond. Sci. and Technol. 6, A80 (1991).Google Scholar
25 Geohegan, D. B. et al. , these symposium proceedings.Google Scholar
26 Rouleau, C. M. and Lowndes, D. H., unpublished results.Google Scholar
27 Nakao, T. and Uenoyama, T., Jpn. J. appl. Phys. 32, 660 (1993).Google Scholar
28 Uenoyama, T., Nakao, T., and Suzuki, M., J. Cryst. Growth 138, 301 (1994).Google Scholar