Temperature-dependent electrical properties of ZnO and ZnMgO thin films: Analysis of conduction mechanisms

IF 3.9 3区材料科学 Q2 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Materials Science and Engineering: B Pub Date : 2025-04-26 DOI:10.1016/j.mseb.2025.118325

Victor Colas , Krishna Lone , Wafae El Berjali , Sidi Ould Saad Hamady , Nur Atiqah Hamzah , Way Foong Lim , Sha Shiong Ng

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Abstract

ZnMgO has gained significant attention as a sustainable and cost-effective material for solar cells and sensors. This study investigates the conduction mechanisms in ZnO and ZnMgO thin films, covering a broad temperature range (40 K-340 K). Electrical characterization reveals a transition in ZnO from Mott variable-range hopping at low temperatures, characterized by a localized donor state density of

2.3 \times 1 0^{21} {cm}^{- 3} {eV}^{- 1}

and a localization length of 1.8 nm, to thermally activated conduction at higher temperatures. In ZnMgO, the incorporation of Mg leads to a higher activation energy (69.0 meV) compared to ZnO (48.3 meV), indicating increased carrier localization. This enhanced localization is further evidenced by the emergence of the nearest-neighbor hopping mechanism at low temperatures, with an activation energy of 2.8 meV. Additionally, optical characterization reveals a bandgap widening and an increase in Urbach energy, correlating with the observed shift in conduction mechanisms.

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ZnO和ZnMgO薄膜的温度依赖性电性能：传导机制分析

ZnMgO作为一种可持续且具有成本效益的太阳能电池和传感器材料受到了广泛关注。本研究研究了ZnO和ZnMgO薄膜的传导机制，覆盖了广泛的温度范围（40 K-340 K）。电学表征揭示了ZnO从低温下的Mott变范围跳变转变，其特征是局域供体态密度为2.3×1021cm−3eV−1，局域长度为1.8 nm，到高温下的热激活传导。在ZnMgO中，与ZnO （48.3 meV）相比，Mg的掺入导致了更高的活化能（69.0 meV），表明载流子定位增强。低温下最近邻跳变机制的出现进一步证明了这种增强的局域性，其活化能为2.8 meV。此外，光学特性揭示了带隙的扩大和乌尔巴赫能量的增加，这与观察到的传导机制的变化有关。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Materials Science and Engineering: B 工程技术-材料科学：综合

CiteScore

5.60

自引率

2.80%

发文量

481

审稿时长

3.5 months

期刊介绍： The journal provides an international medium for the publication of theoretical and experimental studies and reviews related to the electronic, electrochemical, ionic, magnetic, optical, and biosensing properties of solid state materials in bulk, thin film and particulate forms. Papers dealing with synthesis, processing, characterization, structure, physical properties and computational aspects of nano-crystalline, crystalline, amorphous and glassy forms of ceramics, semiconductors, layered insertion compounds, low-dimensional compounds and systems, fast-ion conductors, polymers and dielectrics are viewed as suitable for publication. Articles focused on nano-structured aspects of these advanced solid-state materials will also be considered suitable.