Ultraviolet electroluminescence from n-ZnO:Ga/p-ZnO:N homojunction device on sapphire substrate with p-type ZnO:N layer formed by annealing in N2O plasma ambient

Abstract ZnO homojunction light emitting device (LED) with n-ZnO:Ga/p-ZnO:N structure was fabricated on sapphire substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The reproducible p-type ZnO:N layer with hole concentration of 1.29 × 10 17  cm −3 was formed with NH 3 as N doping source followed by thermal annealing in N 2 O plasma protective ambient. The device exhibited desirable rectifying behavior. Distinct electroluminescence emission centered at 3.2 eV and 2.4 eV were detected from this device under forward bias at room temperature. The intensive ultraviolet emission was comparable to the visible emission in the electroluminescence spectrum, which represent remarkable progress in the performance of ZnO homojunction LED.