Oxygen-deficient defects facilitate H⁺ radiation resistance in ZnO

In this work, we report that the energetic particle radiation-resistance of ZnO can be tuned via engineering native defects. Interestingly, while we found the O_i and V_Zn have weak influences upon H⁺ radiation-resistance, the pre-existed Zn_i, and V_O defects in ZnO, which are responsible for the visible band optical absorption, can effectively alleviate the optical degradation. Results also show that such optical degradation is independent of ZnO morphology and particle size. We attribute the potential cause for the radiation-hardness of oxygen-deficient ZnO to the ionization of pre-existed absorption centers to deactive charged states and the efficient recombination of Zn_i with implantation created vacancies. This deduction is further approved by the aggravated optical degradation in Li-doped ZnO that is with few donors. These findings would be helpful in designing nanoscale materials and devices that are used in radioactive environments.