Rich Variety of Defects in ZnO via an Attractive Interaction between O Vacancies and Zn Interstitials: Origin ofn-Type Doping

Abstract

As the concentration of intrinsic defects becomes sufficiently high in O-deficient ZnO, interactions between defects lead to a significant reduction in their formation energies. We show that the formation of both O vacancies and Zn interstitials becomes significantly enhanced by a strong attractive interaction between them, making these defects an important source of $n$-type conductivity in ZnO.