Fabrication and characterization of p-ZnO:(P,N)/n-ZnO:Al homojunction ultra-violet (UV) light emitting diodes (Presentation Recording)

ZnO possess distinctive characteristics such as low cost, wide band gap (3.36 eV) and large exciton binding energy (60meV). As the band gap lies in ultra violet (UV) region, ZnO is considered as a novel material for the fabrication of ultra violet light emitting diodes (UV-LEDs). However, ZnO being intrinsic n-type semiconductor the key challenge lies in realization of stable and reproducible p-type ZnO. In the present research dual acceptor group-V elements such as P and N are simultaneously doped in ZnO films to obtain the p-type characteristics. The deposition is made by programmable spray pyrolysis technique upon glass substrates at 697K. The optimum doping concentration of P and N were found to be 0.75 at% which exhibits hole concentration of 4.48 x 10^18 cm-3 and resistivity value of 9.6 Ω.cm. The deposited p-ZnO were found to be stable for a period over six months. Highly conducting n-type ZnO films is made by doping aluminum (3 at%) which exhibits higher electron concentration of 1.52 x 10^19 cm-3 with lower electrical resistivity of 3.51 x 10-2 Ω.cm. The structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of the deposited n-ZnO and p-ZnO thin films are investigated. An efficient p-n homojunction has been fabricated using the optimum p-ZnO:(P,N) and n-ZnO:Al layers. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics show typical rectifying characteristics of p-n junction with a low turn on voltage. Electroluminescence (EL) studies reveals the fabricated p-n homojunction diodes exhibits strong emission features in ultra-violet (UV) region around 378 nm.