Nuclear magnetic resonance of ion implanted $^8$Li in ZnO

TL;DR

This study uses $eta$-detected NMR to investigate the stability, site occupancy, and magnetic properties of ion-implanted $^8$Li in ZnO, revealing temperature-dependent site transitions and defect dynamics.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the behavior of implanted lithium in ZnO, including site stability, ionization states, and defect motion, using $eta$-NMR techniques.

Findings

Interstitial Li remains stable and ionized across all temperatures.

A site change transition occurs from disordered to substitutional configurations above 300 K.

The electric field gradient at interstitial Li shows a temperature-dependent power law.

Abstract

We report on the stability and magnetic state of ion implanted $^8$Li in single crystals of the semiconductor ZnO using $\beta$-detected nuclear magnetic resonance. At ultradilute concentrations, the spectra reveal distinct Li sites from 7.6 to 400 K. Ionized shallow donor interstitial Li is stable across the entire temperature range, confirming its ability to self-compensate the acceptor character of its (Zn) substitutional counterpart. Above 300 K, spin-lattice relaxation indicates the onset of correlated local motion of interacting defects, and the spectra show a site change transition from disordered configurations to substitutional. Like the interstitial, the substitutional shows no resolved hyperfine splitting, indicating it is also fully ionized above 210 K. The electric field gradient at the interstitial $^8$Li exhibits substantial temperature dependence with a power law typical of non-cubic metals.