Abstract
Zinc oxide is a wide-band-gap semiconductor with potential optoelectronic applications. This chapter reviews fundamental properties of defects in this material. The oxygen vacancy is a deep double donor while the zinc vacancy is a deep double acceptor. Zinc vacancies and their complexes may be responsible for several visible emission bands. Zinc interstitials are mobile, shallow double donors. At room temperature, they pair with acceptor defects or form clusters. The prevailing n-type conductivity is due to impurities such as group-III elements, hydrogen, and group-IV elements. Isoelectronic impurities such as calcium may also be present. Substitutional copper, nitrogen, and lithium are known to be deep acceptors and therefore not suited for p-type conductivity. Hydrogen forms complexes with acceptors, passivating them, and is also incorporated into centers with unknown identities.
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