From sunscreen and diaper ointment to wide band gap optoelectronics: ZnO-based homoepitaxial device technology

Summary form only given. ZnO is a highly efficient light emitter, which has resulted in international interest for wide band gap applications. Properties of this semiconductor that are of interest include a direct band gap of approximately 3.37 eV, a large exciton binding energy, the ability to modulate the band gap to a higher energy level by alloying ZnO with MgO, and the ability to modulate to a lower energy level by alloying ZnO with CdO. For device fabrication, ZnO is possesses all the components needed for applications like UV light emitters including; the availability of high quality ZnO bulk wafers, the ability to grow ZnO in thin film form, the ability to dope ZnO in both n and p-type forms, and the availability of metallizations for ohmic contacts. This work describes the growth of ZnO in the bulk form, processing of wafers, homoepitaxial growth of ZnO and related characterization.