Structural transition, subgap states, and carrier transport in anion-engineered zinc oxynitride nanocrystalline films

In this work, anion alloying is engineered in ZnON nanocrystalline films, and the resultant evolution of the structural transition, subgap states, and carrier transport is investigated. A broad distribution of sub-gap states above the valence band maximum is introduced by nitrogen due to the hybridization of N 2p and O 2p orbitals. The phase transition from partially amorphous states to full crystallinity occurs above a characteristic growth temperature of 100 °C, and the localized states are suppressed greatly due to the reduction of nitrogen composition. The electronic properties are dominated by grain boundary scattering and electron transport across boundary barriers through thermal activation at band edge states at high temperatures. The conductivity below 130 K exhibits a weak temperature dependence, which is a signature of variable-range hopping conduction between localized states introduced by nitrogen incorporation.