Implantation and diffusion behavior of Sb, Ti and N in ZnO single crystal and sputter deposited thin films were studied through secondary ion mass spectrometric studies on ion-implanted and thermally annealed samples. Sb was implanted and Ti and N were co-implanted into ZnO single crystals and polycrystalline thin films on Si substrates at room temperature. The implanted samples were then annealed at 800C. Depth profiles of implant distributions before and after annealing were examined by secondary ion mass spectrometry. As expected, implant range was sensitive to the mass of the dopants; and the dopant distribution was broadened as implanted elements migrated deeper into the film on thermal annealing. While diffusion of N in the ZnO thin film was not significant, Ti tends to diffuse deeper into the sample during annealing. For Ti and N co-implanted single crystal, annealing induced diffusion caused more redistribution of the lighter N than Ti. In general, implanted dopants diffuse more easily in thin films compared to the single crystal due to the presence of grain boundaries in the latter.

Comparison of Implantation and Diffusion Behavior of Ti, Sb and N in Ion-Implanted Single Crystal and Polycrystalline ZnO: a SIMS Study. Lee, J., J.Metson, P.J.Evans, U.Pal, D.Bhattacharyya: Applied Surface Science, 2010, 256[7], 2143-6