Growth Mechanism for N-doped ZnO Films Grown by Spray Pyrolysis Method

N-doped ZnO films were grown at Si(100) substrates by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis with the precursor of zinc acetate and ammonium acetate. Thermal-mass spectrometric analysis (TGDSC-MS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) were employed to analyze the growth mechanism, crystal structure and electrical properties of films. Results show that the films grown at different substrate temperatures show different growth mechanisms, which could influence crystal structure and electrical properties of films. The successful p-type doping can be realized at an optimized substrate temperature. The p-type ZnO film shows excellent electrical properties such as a hole concentration of 3.70×1018cm~3, hole mobility of 110cm2 ·V-1s-1 and resistivity of 1.4×10-2 Ω ·cm.