Cathodoluminescence and scanning tunnelling spectroscopy of ZnO single crystals

Abstract

Bulk ZnO single crystals grown by the hydrothermal (HTT) and alkali flux methods have been investigated by means of scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) and time resolved cathodoluminescence (CL). Measurements were performed in the different crystalline faces. The results from these measurements show that both, surface electrical properties and luminescent characteristics depend on the face studied. Polar O-terminated surfaces show an intrinsic conduction behaviour with a surface band gap ranging from 0.4 to 0.8 eV. Zn-terminated surfaces show mainly n-type conduction. The non-polar faces present either intrinsic or p-type behaviour. CL spectra show that the relative intensity of the different components of the deep level band also depends on the atomic structure of the face under study. This complex behaviour is clearly revealed from the time resolved spectra. The differences observed are attributed to the nature of the defects present in each case and, in particular, to different impurity incorporation processes that could be mainly controlled by the atomic configuration and polarity of the planes.