p-type conduction in ZnO dual-acceptor-doped with nitrogen and phosphorus

A dual-acceptor doping method was proposed to produce p-type conduction in ZnO. Both nitrogen and phosphorus were used as the p-type doping agents. ZnO:(N, P) films were prepared by spray pyrolysis. The p-type conduction was achieved by thermal annealing at appropriate temperatures (500–700 ∘C) for 20 min in O2 ambient. The lowest resistivity of 12.5 Ω cm , with a hole concentration and Hall mobility of 5.3×1017 cm−3 and 0.94 cm2 V −1 s−1, respectively, was obtained at an optimal annealing temperature of 600 ∘C. The p-type behavior was reproducible and stable. The introduction of nitrogen and phosphorus in ZnO were identified by secondary ion mass spectroscopy.