First principles study of IIIA atoms adsorbed on ZnO (0001) surface and the applications in optoelectronic devices

Abstract

First principles method is used to study the adsorption behavior, formation energy and electronic structure of IIIA (B, Al, Ga, In) atoms adsorbed on Top, T4 and H3 sites of ZnO (0001) surface. The date shows that the formation energy of B, Al, Ga and In atoms adsorbed on Top site is highest, then followed by T4 site, and H3 is a more stable adsorption site. With the periodic increase of B, Al, Ga and In atoms, the formation energy of corresponding models decreases gradually, and the binding ability with O atoms also decreases gradually. The electronic structure of ZnO (0001) surface is sensitive to the adsorption sites. When these atoms are adsorbed on Top sites, the electronic structures of B-Top, Al-Top, Ga-Top and In-Top models have a little change compared with ZnO (0001) surface. However, when these atoms are adsorbed on T4 and H3 sites, the impurity states appear on the VBM, which narrowing the band gap of the corresponding models.