Intrinsic n-Type Behavior in Transparent Conducting Oxides: A Comparative Hybrid-Functional Study of In2O3, SnO2, and ZnO

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© 2009 American Physical Society (APS). This is the accepted version of the following article: Ágoston, Péter & Albe, Karsten & Nieminen, Risto M. & Puska, Martti J. 2009. Intrinsic n-Type Behavior in Transparent Conducting Oxides: A Comparative Hybrid-Functional Study of In2O3, SnO2, and ZnO. Physical Review Letters. Volume 103, Issue 24. 245501/1-4. ISSN 0031-9007 (printed). DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.103.245501, which has been published in final form at http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.245501.

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Volume Title

School of Science | A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

Date

2009

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Mcode

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

245501/1-4

Series

Physical Review Letters, Volume 103, Issue 24

Abstract

We present a comparative study of oxygen vacancies in In2O3, SnO2, and ZnO based on the hybrid-functional method within the density-functional theory (DFT). For In2O3 and SnO2, our results provide strong evidence of shallow donor states at oxygen vacancies. In comparison with the (semi)local exchange-correlation approximations in DFT, the hybrid-functional method strongly lowers the formation energy of the positive charge state and keeps that of the neutral state nearly intact. The trend is analyzed in terms of changes in lattice relaxation energies and in electron energy levels near the band gap. The existence of shallow donor states at oxygen vacancies and the consequent n-type conductivity are in line with experimental findings. The results invalidate some former theoretical interpretations based on standard DFT calculations.

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Keywords

transparent conducting oxides, n-type doping, native defects, hybrid-functional scheme

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Citation

Ágoston, Péter & Albe, Karsten & Nieminen, Risto M. & Puska, Martti J. 2009. Intrinsic n-Type Behavior in Transparent Conducting Oxides: A Comparative Hybrid-Functional Study of In2O3, SnO2, and ZnO. Physical Review Letters. Volume 103, Issue 24. 245501/1-4. ISSN 0031-9007 (printed). DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.103.245501.