Effects of Hydrogen Plasma Treatment on the Electrical Behavior of Solution-Processed ZnO Thin Films.

Park, Ji-In; Lee, Hyun Uk; Pearson, Christopher; Petty, Michael C; Jeong, Yesul

Abstract

In this study, the effect of atmospheric hydrogen plasma treatment on the in-plane conductivity of solution-processed zinc oxide (ZnO) in various environments is reported. The hydrogen-plasma-treated and untreated ZnO films exhibited ohmic behavior with room-temperature in-plane conductivity in a vacuum. When the untreated ZnO film was exposed to a dry oxygen environment, the conductivity rapidly decreased, and an oscillating current was observed. In certain cases, the thin film reversibly 'switched' between the high- and low-conductivity states. In contrast, the conductivity of the hydrogen-plasma-treated ZnO film remained nearly constant under different ambient conditions. We infer that hydrogen acts as a shallow donor, increasing the carrier concentration and generating oxygen vacancies by eliminating the surface contamination layer. Hence, atmospheric hydrogen plasma treatment could play a crucial role in stabilizing the conductivity of ZnO films.

Citation

Park, J.-I., Lee, H. U., Pearson, C., Petty, M. C., & Jeong, Y. (2024). Effects of Hydrogen Plasma Treatment on the Electrical Behavior of Solution-Processed ZnO Thin Films. Materials, 17(11), Article 2673. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17112673

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 30, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jun 1, 2024
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jul 10, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 10, 2024
• Journal: Materials
• Print ISSN: 1996-1944
• Electronic ISSN: 1996-1944
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 11
• Article Number: 2673
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17112673
• Keywords: in-plane electrical conductivity, plasma treatment, solution process, effect of measurement condition, zinc oxide
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2520573