Study of the Photoluminescence of Phosphorus-Doped p-Type ZnO Thin Films Grown by Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

Phosphorus-doped p-type ZnO thin films were grown on sapphire by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra revealed an acceptor bound exciton peak at 3.355 eV and a conduction band to the acceptor transition caused by a phosphorus related level at 3.310 eV. A study of the dependence of the excitation laser power density and temperature on the characteristics of the PL spectra suggests that the emission lines at 3.310 and 3.241 eV can be attributed to a conduction band to the phosphorus-related acceptor transition and a donor to the acceptor pair transition, respectively. The acceptor energy level of the phosphorus dopant was estimated to be located 127 meV above the valence band