Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), photoluminescence, and infrared optical absorption have been used to investigate a ZnO crystal before and after a thermal anneal for 1 h in air at 900 °C. The sample was an undoped high quality crystal grown by the chemical vapor transport method. In addition to shallow donor impurities, the crystal contained trace amounts of copper ions. Prior to the thermal anneal, these ions were all in the Cu+ (3d10) state and the observed luminescence at 5 K, produced by 364 nm light, consisted of a broad structureless band peaking at 500 nm. After the high-temperature anneal, the Cu2+ (3d9) EPR spectrum was observed and the luminescence had changed significantly. The emission then peaked near 510 nm and showed structure identical to that reported by Dingle [Phys. Rev. Lett. 23, 579 (1969)]. Our data reaffirm that the structured green emission in ZnO is associated with Cu2+ ions. We suggest that the unstructured green emission (observed before the high-temperature anneal) is donor–acceptor pair recombination involving the Cu+ acceptors.

Zinc oxide crystals grown by the seeded chemical vapor transport method have been annealed in zinc vapor at 1100 °C for 30 min. These thermochemical reduction treatments produce a deep red coloration in the crystals and increase their n-type electrical conductivity. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), optical absorption, and Hall measurements were used to monitor changes in the crystals. After an anneal, an intense optical absorption band is present that extends from the band edge out to approximately 550 nm, and the EPR signal near g=1.96 (due to shallow donors and/or conduction-band electrons), the free-carrier absorption, and the Hall electron concentration are all larger. Hydrogen was not present during these anneals, thus leaving oxygen vacancies and zinc interstitials as candidates for the added donors. Neutral oxygen vacancies are produced at high temperature by the additive-coloration mechanism, and are responsible for the broad near-edge absorption band. The observed increase in the number of free carriers is a result of either (1) the formation of zinc interstitials or (2) having the ground state of the neutral oxygen vacancy near the conduction band.

Nitrogen acceptors are formed when undoped single crystals of zinc oxide (ZnO) grown by the chemical-vapor transport method are annealed in air or nitrogen atmosphere at temperatures between 600 and 900 °C. After an anneal, an induced near-edge absorption band causes the crystals to appear yellow. Also, the concentration of neutral shallow donors, as monitored by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), is significantly reduced. A photoinduced EPR signal due to neutral nitrogen acceptors is observed when the annealed crystals are exposed to laser light (e.g., 364, 442, 458, or 514 nm) at low temperature. The nitrogens are initially in the nonparamagnetic singly ionized state (N−) in an annealed crystal, because of the large number of shallow donors, and the light converts a portion of them to the paramagnetic neutral acceptor state (N0).

PACS 71.55. Gr, 72.80.Ey, 78.55.Et Hall-effect, photoluminescence (PL), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements have been performed in single-crystal ZnO samples annealed in air at 25, 550, 750, and 950 °C, for 30 min each. A 37 meV donor is dominant in the unannealed sample, but nearly disappears during the higher temperature anneals, and is replaced by a 67 meV donor. The 37 meV donor is responsible for a donorbound-exciton PL line at (3.3631 ± 0.0002) eV, which is dominant in the unannealed sample. The EPR measurements show that N O centers appear in the 750 °C and 950 °C anneals, and they are probably responsible for an increase in the acceptor concentration found from the Hall-effect results. A PL emission at (3.3570 ± 0.0002) eV, assigned in the literature as an acceptor-bound exciton, may involve N O complexes.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) has been used to investigate molecular nitrogen and isolated nitrogen acceptors in single crystals of ZnO. These samples were grown by the seeded chemical vapor transport method with N2 added to the gas stream. A five-line EPR spectrum is observed at low temperature in the as-grown bulk crystals and is assigned to N2− molecules substituting for oxygen. This structure arises from nearly equal hyperfine interactions with two nitrogen nuclei (14N, 99.63% abundant, I=1). The spin Hamiltonian parameters for the N2− center are g∥=2.0036, g⊥=1.9935, A∥=9.8 MHz, and A⊥=20.1 MHz, with the unique directions parallel to the c axis. Laser excitation at 9 K, with 325 or 442 nm light, eliminates the N2− spectrum (when the N2− convert to N20) and independently introduces the EPR spectrum due to isolated nitrogen acceptors (when N− acceptors convert to N0). Removing the laser light and warming to approximately 100 K restores the crystal to its preilluminated state. In separate experiments, heating between 600 and 800 °C increases the number of N2− and N0 acceptors that can be observed. We suggest that the activation of these nitrogen acceptors occurs when complexes of hydrogen and nitrogen thermally dissociate. Further heating above 800 °C drives the two nitrogen acceptors to inactive forms.