Investigation of the Effects of Rapid Thermal Annealing on the Electron Transport Mechanism in Nitrogen-Doped ZnO Thin Films Grown by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Nitrogen-doped ZnO (ZnO:N) thin films, deposited on Si(100) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering in a gas mixture of argon, oxygen, and nitrogen at different ratios followed by Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) at 400^◦ C and 550^◦ C, were studied in the present work. Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopic analyses showed that introduction of N into the ZnO matrix generated defects related to oxygen and zinc vacancies and interstitials. These defects were deep levels which contributed to the electron transport properties of the ZnO:N films, studied by analyzing the current–voltage characteristics of metal–insulator–semiconductor structures with ZnO:N films, measured at 298 and 77 K. At the appliedtechnological conditions of deposition and subsequent RTA at 400^◦ C n-type ZnO:N films were formed, while RTA at 550^◦ C transformed the n-ZnO:N films to p-ZnO:N ones. The charge transport in both types of ZnO:N films was carried out via deep levels in the ZnO energy gap. The density of the deep levels was in the order of 10¹⁹ cm⁻³. In the temperature range of 77–298 K, the electron transport mechanism in the ZnO:N films was predominantly intertrap tunneling, but thermally activated hopping also took place.