Effect of rapid thermal annealing on Zn/ZnO layers

Zn/ZnO layers were deposited on SiO₂/Si substrate by magnetron sputtering at room temperature, and then these layers were annealed at various temperatures from 200 to 400 °C in nitrogen atmosphere for 1 min. The structural and electrical properties of the Zn/ZnO layers before and after annealing are systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, current–voltage measurement system, and Auger electron spectroscopy. Current–voltage measurements show that the Zn/ZnO layers exhibit an Ohmic contact behavior. It is shown that, initially, the specific contact resistivity decreases with the increase of the annealing temperature and reaches a minimum value of 9.76 × 10⁻⁵ Ω cm² at an annealing temperature of 300 °C. However, with a further increase of the annealing temperature, the Ohmic contact behavior degrades. This phenomenon can be explained by considering the diffusion of zinc interstitials and oxygen vacancies. It is also shown that Zn-rich ZnO thin films can be obtained by annealing Zn on the surface of ZnO film and that good Ohmic contact between Zn and ZnO layers can be observed when the annealing temperature was 300 °C.