Formation of stable and reproducible low resistivity and high carrier concentration p-type ZnO doped at high pressure with Sb

Abstract

Stable p-type Sb-doped ZnO (ZnO:Sb) was fabricated reproducibly by sintering mixture of ZnO and Sb2O3 powders under 5 GPa at temperatures of 1100–1450 °C. The best p-type ZnO:Sb with resistivity of 1.6×10−2 Ω cm, carrier concentration of 3.3×1020 cm−3, and mobility of 12.1 cm/V s was obtained by doping 4.6 at. % Sb and sintering at 1450 °C. The p-type conduction is due to complex acceptor formed by one substitutional Sb at Zn site and two Zn vacancies. The acceptor level was measured to be 113 meV. Effect of pressure on formation and electrical properties of the p-type ZnO:Sb is discussed.