We report the structural, dielectric and electronic properties of Zn$_{1-x}$Li$_{x}$O ($x$ = 0.1, 0.05, 0.10) thin films prepared on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO$_{2}$/Si substrates by using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed that all of films had a single phase as the Zn-O bond length gradually increased with increasing Li content at first and then decreased after a certain threshold. 5-at% and 10-at% Li-doped ZnO thin films show p-type behavior based on Hall-effect measurements. The existence of defects, such as Li$_{i}$ (interstitial Li) and Li$_{Zn}$ (substitutional Li at the Zn site), should be considered in the host materials. The relationship between the defects and the Li concentration is consistent with the dielectric results. The stabilization of p-type thin films as to the behavior of defects is also discussed theoretically.

Keywords: ZnO, Thin films, PLD, p-type, Dielectric constant