Polarity effects in the x-ray photoemission of ZnO and other wurtzite semiconductors

Significant polarity-related effects were observed in the near-surface atomic composition and valence band electronic structure of ZnO single crystals, investigated by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy using both Al Kα (1486.6 eV) and synchrotron radiation (150 to 1486 eV). In particular, photoemission from the lowest binding energy valence band states was found to be significantly more intense on the Zn-polar face compared to the O-polar face. This is a consistent effect that can be used as a simple, nondestructive indicator of crystallographic polarity in ZnO and other wurtzite semiconductors.