Stable p-type conductivity in B and N co-doped ZnO epitaxial thin film

We report on the observation of stable p-type conductivity in B and N co-doped epitaxial ZnO thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition. Films grown at higher oxygen partial pressure (similar to 10(-1) Torr) shows p-type conductivity with a carrier concentration of similar to 3 x 10(16) cm(-3). This p-type conductivity is associated with the significant decrease in defect emission peaks due to the vacancy oxygen (V-O) and Schottky type-I native defects compared to films grown at low oxygen partial pressure (similar to 10(-5) Torr). The p-type conductivity is explained with the help of density functional theory (DFT) calculation considering off-stoichiometric BN1+x in the ZnO lattice. (C) 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim