Electrical Effects of the Dissolution of n-Type Zinc Oxide

Abstract

When n‐type zinc oxide dissolves in an acid there is a flow of current. The magnitude of the current depends on the rate of solution. Capacitance measurements show that there is a Schottky barrier at the interface between crystal and electrolyte. It is shown that the current flow is probably due to ionized donor centers in the Schottky barrier which are carried into the solution as the crystal dissolves. Fluctuations in the magnitude of the current with time are related to individual steps in the dissolution process.