Electron Density Distributions in ZnO Crystals

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Abstract
Electron density distributions have been determined for two ZnO crystals that had been heated in Zn vapor and for an undoped crystal by very accurate measurements of their x‐ray diffraction intensities. An examination of the difference between the electron densities of doped and undoped crystals shows that the doped crystals contain 15–60×1019 atoms/cm3 in the octahedral interstices. The incorporation of this large number of interstitial Zn atoms increases the axial ratio of the hexagonal unit cell from 1.6019 to 1.6025. The density of interstitials is approximately 1000 times greater than that calculated from the electrical conductivity of these crystals so that it must be concluded that most of the interstitial Zn atoms are electrically neutral. The presence of these interstitials explains why the time required to reach saturation for electrical conductivity is much greater in virgin crystals than in previously doped ones.

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