Introduction:

This paper presents results achieved in the obtaining and characterization of doped and undoped ZnO thin films with morphological changes, from which chemical and optical-property modifications are achieved; resistivity behavior is elucidated in ZnO films, aiming to control, in a convenient and reproducible manner, useful properties when utilizing it.

Methods:

ZnO:Cd,Te and ZnO:N films were obtained by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) techniques with inorganic ZnO+CdTe and poly (ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate)+ZnO hybrid targets respectively. ZnO:Al films were obtained by combination with the inclined substrate technique (OAD).

Results and discussion:

ZnO:Cd,Te and ZnO:N films have high resistivity because of passivation of defects due to the incorporation of Cd, Te and N into the ZnO network and, consequently, the formation of ZnO compounds of the type CdxZn1-xO1-yTey and ZnxOyNz. The ZnO:Al films were obtained with nanocolumnar morphology using the rf-sputtering technique combined with oblique angle deposition (OAD). This allowed for optical dispersion engineering to modify the effective refractive index by up to 20% and the energy gap by up to 3%, in addition to varying the resistivity. The cause of a contradictory behavior of the electrical properties in ZnO films grown by PLD and different partial oxygen pressure was elucidated, which was linked to the significant influence of interstitial oxygen configurations and interstitial Zn, and residual stresses that are relevant in the behavior of resistivity in thin films grown by high energy techniques.

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