Nitrogen incorporation in SnO
2
thin films grown by chemical vapor deposition
Jie Jiang , Yinmei Lu, Benedikt Kramm, Fabian Michel, Christian T. Reindl, Max Kracht,
Bruno K. Meyer, Detlev M. Hofmann, Martin Eickhoff
1. Physics Institute, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 16, 35392 Giessen,
Germany
As a direct band gap semiconductor, tin oxide (SnO
2
) is a promising candidate for
constructing next generation ultraviolet light emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodetectors, due
to its large band gap of 3.6 eV, and high carrier mobility of about 250 cm
2
/Vs at room
temperature. Nitrogen is proposed to be an excellent anion dopant in SnO
2
owing to its
suitable electronegativity and ion size, high solubility limit, and non-toxicit
Here we study
the characteristics of SnO
2
films with high concentrations of incorporated nitrogen (SnO
2
:N)
deposited on
c
-plane and and
r
-plane sapphire substrates by chemical vapor deposition
(CVD), using SnI
2
powder and O
2
, and NH
3
gas as source materials. The crystal structure,
electrical properties and optical properties of the films were investigated. The N atomic
concentration in SnO
2
:N films increases from 0 to 7.9 at.% (XPS) without phase separation
with increasing NH
3
flow rate during the deposition
The substitutional lattice location in
this concentration range was confirmed. The carrier concentration increases from 4.1×10
18
to
3.9×10
19
cm
-3
and the absorption edge shifts from 4.26 to 4.08 eV. The effect of annealing on
the structural, optical and electrical properties is analyzed.
1
M. Batzill and U. Diebold, Progress in Surface Science
79,
47 (2005).
2
J. Jiang, Y. Lu, B. Kramm, F. Michel, C. T. Reindl, M. E. Kracht, P. J. Klar, B. K. Meyer, and M. Eickhoff, physica
status solidi (b)
,
DOI:10.1002/pssb.201552747 (2016).
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