Gd-doped ZnO thin films were prepared using pulsed laser deposition at different oxygen pressures and varied Gd concentrations. The effects of oxygen deficiency-related defects on the Gd incorporation, optical and structural properties, were explored by studying the impact of oxygen pressure during deposition and post-growth thermal annealing in vacuum. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry revealed that the Gd concentration increases with increasing oxygen pressure for samples grown with the same Gd-doped ZnO target. Unexpectedly, the c-lattice parameter of the samples tends to decrease with increasing Gd concentration, suggesting that Gd-defect complexes play an important role in the structural properties. Using low-temperature photoluminescence (PL), Raman measurements and density functional theory calculations, we identified oxygen vacancies as the dominant intrinsic point defects. PL spectra show a defect band related to oxygen vacancies for samples grown at oxygen deficiency.
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14 February 2016
Research Article|
February 08 2016
Identifying the influence of the intrinsic defects in Gd-doped ZnO thin-films
T. H. Flemban
;
T. H. Flemban
1Physical Science and Engineering Division,
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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M. C. Sequeira
;
M. C. Sequeira
2IPFN, Instituto Superior Técnico,
Universidade de Lisboa
, Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Estrada Nacional 10, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal
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Z. Zhang;
Z. Zhang
1Physical Science and Engineering Division,
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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S. Venkatesh;
S. Venkatesh
1Physical Science and Engineering Division,
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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E. Alves
;
E. Alves
2IPFN, Instituto Superior Técnico,
Universidade de Lisboa
, Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Estrada Nacional 10, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal
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K. Lorenz;
K. Lorenz
2IPFN, Instituto Superior Técnico,
Universidade de Lisboa
, Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Estrada Nacional 10, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal
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I. S. Roqan
I. S. Roqan
a)
1Physical Science and Engineering Division,
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: iman.roqan@kaust.edu.sa
J. Appl. Phys. 119, 065301 (2016)
Article history
Received:
November 22 2015
Accepted:
January 25 2016
Citation
T. H. Flemban, M. C. Sequeira, Z. Zhang, S. Venkatesh, E. Alves, K. Lorenz, I. S. Roqan; Identifying the influence of the intrinsic defects in Gd-doped ZnO thin-films. J. Appl. Phys. 14 February 2016; 119 (6): 065301. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4941434
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