Lattice site and stability of implanted Ag in ZnO

Abstract

In this work we report on the lattice location of implanted Ag in ZnO single-crystals, evaluated by means of the emission channeling technique. Following 60 keV low dose (2×10 13 cm −2 ) ion implantation, the β − emission patterns from 111 Ag were monitored with a position-sensitive detector as a function of annealing temperature up to 800ºC in vacuum. Our experiments revealed that in the as-implanted state around 30% of the Ag atoms are substitutional at the Zn site with root mean square displacements around 0.17-0.28 Å. Though this fraction did not change with increasing annealing temperature, upon annealing at 600°C the root mean square displacement of Ag from the Zn site increased considerably, followed by partial outdiffusion during 800°C annealing.

Lattice sites of implanted Cu and Ag in ZnO

“…The results from the 111 Ag implanted sample [21] are shown in Fig. 4, and are similar to the case of Cu.…”

“…However, the fractions for annealing temperatures above 600°C are marked as less accurate since the possible diffusion of Cu may have changed the depth profile. While possible diffusion is expected to influence the fitted fractions, as was discussed previously [20,21], it does not have a pronounced influence on the identification of the rms displacements. In the case of sample 2 partial out-diffusion of several percent of the Cu activity was observed during annealing at 800°C, and therefore samples 1 and 3 were subsequently only annealed at 700°C maximum in order to avoid contamination of the emission channeling setup.…”

“…We have previously studied the lattice location of implanted Cu [20] and Ag [21] in ZnO by means of the β − emission channeling effect [22] from radioactive 67 Cu and 111 Ag isotopes. Our experimental method is based on the fact that the β − particles that are emitted during nuclear decay experience channeling or blocking effects along major crystallographic axes and planes.…”

“…In addition, substitutional Zn sites with isotropic Gaussian distributions of displacements, characterized by different root mean square (rms) values u 1 were considered. Details regarding the experimental setup, the simulation of the emission yield for different lattice sites in ZnO, and the data analysis procedure have been reported previously [20,21,23].…”

Study of annealing influence on electrical and morphological properties of ZnO:Ga thin films

“…Previously, different annealing schemes such as rapid thermal annealing [19], in-situ thermal an-www.pss-c.com nealing [20], and face-to-face annealing [21], were applied and their influence on structural, optical, morphological, and electrical properties of pure ZnO was revealed [22][23][24]. Also, several studies have focused on the influence of post-deposition annealing on the properties of polycrystalline ZnO, doped by In [25], As [26], Ni [27], Ag [28], Cu [29], Mg [30]. The change of the optical properties of ZnO:Ga during annealing was reported [31].…”