Effects of Zn and Zn–N doping on optical, electrical, and structural properties of p-type SnO2 films

[Display omitted] •Zn replacing Sn (ZnSn) in SnO2 caused N-substituted O (NO) content in the SnO2 lattice.•NO atoms in the SnO2 lattice caused the rutile (101) to cubic (200) plane transition.•NO content in Zn-N -doped SnO2 (ZNTO) films contributed to the n- to p-type transition.•The balance between NO and ZnSn atoms in the host lattice improved the crystal quality.•The highest photocurrent of ZNTO-8/n-Si is due to the hole mobility of the ZNTO-8 film. Zn-doped SnO2 (ZTO) and Zn–N co-doped SnO2 (ZNTO) films were deposited via direct current sputtering. Herein, the Zn-substituted Sn (ZnSn) and N-substituted O (NO) contents were determined using EDX mapping and XPS analysis. The crystal qualities of the ZTO and ZNTO films were determined using X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy; the ZTO films exhibited a low crystal quality. On the other hand, the crystal quality of the ZNTO films improved significantly because of the contribution of NO in the SnO2 lattice. Additionally, the rutile (101) – cubic (200) reflection transition proved the presence of NO in the host lattice due to its increased compressibility. The transmittance of the ZNTO film was over 85% in response to the standard of a transparent conductive electrode. Excellent p-type properties were confirmed for the ZNTO film deposited from SnO2 target doping 8 wt% ZnO, with the lowest resistivity of 6.3 × 10-3 Ω cm and the highest hole mobility of 7.66 cm2 V−1 s−1. The photocurrent characteristics of the ZNTO/n-Si junctions indicated that the films could be applied as p-type transparent conductive electrodes in transparent electronic or optoelectronic devices.