Electric characterization of transition metal (Co, Ni, Fe) doped ZnO thin layers prepared by atomic layer deposition

Abstract

Abstract Doping of ZnO with different ions enables efficient control of its optical, electrical and magnetic properties. ZnO thin films doped with 3d transition metals have potential to be used as diluted magnetic semiconductors. In this work, dielectric and electrical properties of transition metal (Ni-, Co- or Fe-) doped ZnO thin films prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) have been studied. Standard capacitance-voltage (C-V) and current-voltage (I-V) as well as capacitance-frequency (C-f) characteristics have been measured. Some important parameters, e.g. the concentration of majority carriers N D, barrier height Ф b as well as the built-in potential Vbi are determined. Different polarization effects are considered to explain the strong frequency dependence of dielectric constant.