Hydrogen in polycrystalline ZnO thin films

The influence and the states of hydrogen in polycrystalline ZnO thin films were investigated by preparing films with different amounts of oxygen vacancies at various hydrogen potentials. The most notable effect of hydrogen addition was passivation of grain boundaries. The majority of hydrogen incorporation in polycrystalline ZnO films was attributed to hydrogen interstitials, and a substantially smaller number of multicentre bonds at oxygen vacancies were formed even at high hydrogen potentials. The major source of free carriers in polycrystalline ZnO films deposited without intentional hydrogen addition was oxygen vacancies with 2+ charge state with large atomic relaxation.