Properties of electrical contacts on bulk and epitaxial n-type ZnO

The electrical properties of several metal contacts to n-type ZnO (0001) were studied. The ZnO samples consisted of bulk single-crystal material, epitaxial layers on sapphire grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and polycrystalline thin films on sapphire obtained by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Ohmic and rectifying contacts were observed dependent upon both the metal material and the ZnO surface. Ohmic contacts were characterized using the circular transmission line method (c-TLM), where contact resistivity was found to be in the range of 10−4−10−5 Ω-cm2. Schottky behavior was observed using Ag contacts exhibiting varying leakage current and breakdown voltage dependent on the polarity of the ZnO surface.