The semiconductor ZnO has gained substantial interest in the research community in part because of its large exciton binding energy (60meV) which could lead to lasing action based on exciton recombination even above room temperature. Even though research focusing on ZnO goes back many decades, the renewed interest is fueled by availability of high-quality substrates and reports of p-type conduction and ferromagnetic behavior when doped with transitions metals, both of which remain controversial. It is this renewed interest in ZnO which forms the basis of this review. As mentioned already, ZnO is not new to the semiconductor field, with studies of its lattice parameter dating back to 1935 by Bunn [Proc. Phys. Soc. London 47, 836 (1935)], studies of its vibrational properties with Raman scattering in 1966 by Damen et al. [Phys. Rev. 142, 570 (1966)], detailed optical studies in 1954 by Mollwo [Z. Angew. Phys. 6, 257 (1954)], and its growth by chemical-vapor transport in 1970 by Galli and Coker [Appl. Phys. ...

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A comprehensive review of zno materials and devices

Wurtzitic ZnO is a wide-bandgap (3.437 eV at 2 K) semiconductor which has many applications, such as piezoelectric transducers, varistors, phosphors, and transparent conducting films. Most of these applications require only polycrystalline material; however, recent successes in producing large-area single crystals have opened up the possibility of producing blue and UV light emitters, and high-temperature, high-power transistors. The main advantages of ZnO as a light emitter are its large exciton binding energy (60 meV), and the existence of well-developed bulk and epitaxial growth processes; for electronic applications, its attractiveness lies in having high breakdown strength and high saturation velocity. Optical UV lasing, at both low and high temperatures, has already been demonstrated, although efficient electrical lasing must await the further development of good, p-type material. ZnO is also much more resistant to radiation damage than are other common semiconductor materials, such as Si, GaAs, CdS, and even GaN; thus, it should be useful for space applications.

Recent Advances in ZnO Materials and Devices

A large amount of work world-wide has been directed towards obtaining an understanding of the fundamental characteristics of porous Si. Much progress has been made following the demonstration in 1990 that highly porous material could emit very efficient visible photoluminescence at room temperature. Since that time, all features of the structural, optical and electronic properties of the material have been subjected to in-depth scrutiny. It is the purpose of the present review to survey the work which has been carried out and to detail the level of understanding which has been attained. The key importance of crystalline Si nanostructures in determining the behaviour of porous Si is highlighted. The fabrication of solid-state electroluminescent devices is a prominent goal of many studies and the impressive progress in this area is described.

The structural and luminescence properties of porous silicon

no attention has been given to the photoconducting properties of nanowires despite the exciting possibilities for use in optoelectronic circuits. Here, we show the possibility of creating highly sensitive nanowire switches by exploring the photoconducting properties of individual semiconductor nanowires. The conductivity of the ZnO nanowires is extremely sensitive to ultraviolet light exposure. The light-induced conductivity increase allows us to reversibly switch the nanowires between “OFF” and “ON” states, an optical gating phenomenon analogous to the commonly used electrical gating. [2,3,10]

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Nanowire ultraviolet photodetectors and optical switches

羟氨苄青霉素引起大疱性类天疱疮样疹

ZnO Schottky ultraviolet photodetectors

High-quality ZnO films are receiving increased interest for use in low-loss high-frequency surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices, acousto-optic and optical modulators, as buffer layers for III-nitride growth, and as the active material in ultraviolet solid state lasers. In this work, high quality epitaxial ZnO films were grown on R-plane sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The structural, piezoelectric, and optical properties of the ZnO films on R sapphire have been investigated. The epitaxial relationship between ZnO and R-Al2O3 was found to be (1120) ZnO∥(0112) Al2O3, and [0001] ZnO∥[0111] Al2O3. The interface between as-grown ZnO and R sapphire was atomically sharp and semicoherent, as evaluated by transmission electron microscopy. On annealing the films at temperatures above 850 °C, a solid state reaction occurred between ZnO and Al2O3, resulting in the formation of ZnAl2O4 (spinel) at the interface. A 15–20 nm spinel layer formed when the ZnO film was annealed at 850 °C fo...

Structural, optical, and surface acoustic wave properties of epitaxial ZnO films grown on (0112) sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We report on the realization of wide band gap (5–6 eV), single-phase, metastable, and epitaxial MgxZn1−xO thin-film alloys grown on sapphire by pulsed laser deposition We found that the composition, structure, and band gaps of the MgxZn1−xO thin-film alloys depend critically on the growth temperature The structural transition from hexagonal to cubic phase has been observed for (Mg content greater than 50 at %) (1⩾x⩾05) which can be achieved by growing the film alloys in the temperature range of 750 °C to room temperature Interestingly, the increase of Mg content in the film has been found to be beneficial for the epitaxial growth at relatively low growth temperature in spite of a large lattice mismatch between sapphire and cubic MgZnO alloys

Realization of band gap above 5.0 eV in metastable cubic-phase MgxZn1−xO alloy films

High-quality zinc oxide (ZnO) films were epitaxially grown on R-plane sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition at temperatures in the range of 350°C to 600°C. In-situ nitrogen compensation doping was performed using NH3. Microstructural and optical properties of the films, as well as the N-doping effects, were studied. The metal-semiconductor-metal ultraviolet sensitive photodetectors were fabricated on N-doped epitaxial ZnO films. The detector showed fast photoresponse, with a rise time of 1 µs and a fall time of 1.5 µs. Low-frequency photoresponsivity, on the order of 400 A/W at 5 V bias, was obtained.

Ultraviolet detectors based on epitaxial ZnO films grown by MOVCD

In the presence of an electric field, the dielectric constant of a semiconductor exhibits Franz–Keldysh oscillations (FKO), which can be detected by modulated reflectance. Although it could be a powerful and simple method to study the electric fields/charge distributions in various semiconductor structures, in the past it has proven to be more complex. This is due to nonuniform fields and impurity induced broadening, which reduce the number of detectible Franz–Keldysh oscillations, and introduce uncertainties into the measurement. In 1989, a new structure, surface–undoped–doped (s‐i‐n+/s‐i‐p+) was developed, which allows the observation of a large number of FKOs and, hence, permitting accurate determination of electric fields. We present a review of the work on measuring electric fields in semiconductors with a particular emphasis on microstructures using the specialized layer sequence. We first discuss the general theory of modulation techniques dwelling on the approximations and their relevance. The cas...

Hongen Shen

Papers

ZnO Schottky ultraviolet photodetectors

Structural, optical, and surface acoustic wave properties of epitaxial ZnO films grown on (0112) sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Realization of band gap above 5.0 eV in metastable cubic-phase MgxZn1−xO alloy films

Ultraviolet detectors based on epitaxial ZnO films grown by MOVCD

Franz–Keldysh oscillations in modulation spectroscopy