69
P-Type
ZnO Films--Structured
Materials Industries, Inc., 120 Centennial Avenue,
Piscataway, NJ 08854-3908; 732-885-5909
Dr.
Catherine Rice, Principal Investigator, cricel@erols.com
Dr.
Gary S. Tompa, Business Official, gstompa@aol.com
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-02ER83527
Amount:
$100,000
The
availability of p-type transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) with good properties
would impact solar cell technology as well as a number of other fields. Although
some new p-type TCOs have recently been demonstrated based on Cu and Ag oxides,
a p-type ZnO thin film would be particularly valuable due to its high
temperature stability, ease of deposition, and availability in single crystal
form for substrates. This project
will refine and optimize the production of p-type ZnO films by a metalorganic
chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process. The
approach will build on previous results, which demonstrated nascent p-type ZnO
films and identified technical issues that must be overcome to achieve p-type
ZnO routinely. Phase
I will modify a reactor to remove sources of n-doping impurities, refine the
p-doping process to demonstrate repeatable and reliable results, characterize
p-type ZnO samples, and disseminate results.
Commercial
Applications and Other Benefits
as described by the awardee: A
p-type ZnO would enable a new class of transparent diode devices (including
detectors, LEDs, and lasers) and transistors (potentially for displays), and
would provide an alternative p-type TCO (potentially enhancing OLEDs,
photovoltaics, and EL materials).