Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-rkxrd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T19:22:03.657Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Dependence of Annealing Temperature on the Conductivity Changes of ZnO and MgZnO Nanoparticle Thin Films from Annealing in a Hydrogen Atmosphere at Mild Temperatures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2012

Christine Berven
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-0903, USA
Lorena Sanchez
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-0903, USA
Sirisha Chava
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-0903, USA
Hannah Marie Young
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-0903, USA
Joseph Dick
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-0903, USA
John L. Morrison
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-0903, USA
Jesse Huso
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-0903, USA
Leah Bergman
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-0903, USA
Get access

Abstract

We report apparent robust doping of ZnO and MgxZn1-xO (x ∼20%) nanoparticle films by annealing in hydrogen gas. The annealing was done at sequentially higher temperatures from about 20 °C to 140 °C. The effect of the annealing was determined by comparing current-voltage measurements of the samples at room-temperature and in vacuum after each annealing cycle.The nanoparticles were grown using an aqueous solution and heating process that created thinfilms of ZnO or MgZnO nanoparticles with diameters of about 30 nm. When exposed to hydrogen gas at room-temperature or after annealing at temperatures up to about 100 °C, no measureable changes to the room-temperature vacuum conductivity of the films was observed. However, when the samples were annealed at temperatures above 100 °C, an appreciable robust increase in the room-temperature conductance in vacuum occurred. Annealing at the maximum temperature (∼135-140 °C) resulted in about a factor of about twenty increase in the conductivity. Furthermore, the ratio of the conductance of the ZnO and MgZnO nanoparticle films while being annealed to their conductance at room-temperature were found to increase and then decrease for increasing annealing temperatures. Maximum changes of about five-fold and seven-fold for the MgZnO and ZnO samples, respectively, were found to occur at temperatures just below the annealing temperature threshold for the onset of the robust hydrogen gas doping. Comparisons of these results to other work on bulk ZnO and MgZnO films and reasons for this behavior will be discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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

REFERENCES

1. Pan, H., Luo, J., Sun, H., Feng, Y., Poh, C., and Lin, J., Nanotech. 17, 2963 (2006).Google Scholar
2. Tang, H., Yan, M., Ma, X., Zhang, H., Wang, M., and Yang, D., Sens. Actuators, B 113, 324 (2006).Google Scholar
3. Zhang, D., Chava, S., Berven, C., Lee, S.K., Devitt, R., and Katkanant, V., Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing 100, 145 (2010).Google Scholar
4. Bergman, L., Morrison, J., Chen, X., Huso, J., and Hoeck, H., Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 023103 (2006).Google Scholar
5. Chava, S., young, H.M., Sanchez, L., Dick, J., Morrison, J.L., Huso, J., Bergman, L., and Berven, C., in Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO), 2011 11th IEEE Conference on 15-18 Aug. 2011 (IEEE, Portland Marriott, Portland, Oregon, USA, 2011), pp. 10251029.Google Scholar
6. Liu, W., Yao, B., Li, Y., Li, B., Zheng, C., Zhang, B., Shan, C., Zhang, Z., Zhang, J., and Shen, D., Appl. Surf. Sci. 255, 6745 (2009).Google Scholar
7. Hsu, H.H., Wang, H.P., Chen, C.Y., Jou, C.J.G., and Wei, Y.-L., J. Electron. Spectrosc. Relat. Phenom. 156-158, 344 (2007).Google Scholar
8. Schmidt-Mende, L. and MacManus-Driscoll, J.L., Materials Today 10, 40 (2007).Google Scholar
9. Thomas, D.G. and Lander, J.J., J. Chem. Phys. 25, 1136 (1956).Google Scholar
10. Sann, J., Hofstaetter, A., Pfisterer, D., Stehr, J., and Meyer, B.K., Phys. Status Solidi C 3, 952 (2006).Google Scholar
11. Van de Walle, C.G., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1012 (2000).Google Scholar
12. Heinrich, M., Domke, C., Ebert, P., and Urban, K., Phys. Rev. B 53, 10894 (1996).Google Scholar
13. Fan, Z. and Lu, J.G., Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 123510 (2005).Google Scholar
14. Comini, E., Faglia, G., Ferroni, M., and Sberveglieri, G., Appl. Phys. A 88, 45 (2007).Google Scholar
15. Sathanantha, S., Dravid, V.P., and Fan, S.-W., Nanoscape 6, 6 (2009).Google Scholar
16. Lin, F., Takao, Y., Shimizu, Y., and Egashira, M., Sens. Actuators, B 25, 843 (1995).Google Scholar
17. McCluskey, M.D. and Jokela, S.J., in Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Workshop on Zinc Oxide (2005), pp. 125132.Google Scholar
18. Park, S.H., Hanada, T., Oh, D.C., Minegishi, T., Goto, H., Fujimoto, G., Park, J.S., Im, I.H., Chang, J.H., Cho, M.W., Yao, T., and Inaba, K., Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 231904 (2007).Google Scholar