Changes in the electrical transport of ZnO under visible light

Complex impedance spectroscopy data in the frequency range 16 Hz<f<3 MHz at room temperature were acquired on pure ZnO single crystal and thin film. The measured impedance of the ZnO samples shows large changes with time after exposure to or covering them from visible light. At fixed times Cole–Cole-diagrams indicate the presence of a single relaxation process. A simple analysis of the impedance data allows us to obtain two main relaxation times. The behavior for both, ZnO crystal and thin film, is similar but the thin film shows shorter relaxation times. The analysis indicates the existence of two different photoactive defects with activation energies between ∼0.8 eV and ∼1.1 eV.