Deep-level defects in gallium oxide

Saleh M., Varley J.B., Jesenovec J., Bhattacharyya A., Krishnamoorthy S., Swain S., Lynn K.

N type conductivity of \b{eta}-Ga2O3 grown from the melt is typically achieved using Sn and Si. In this paper, we experimentally and computationally investigate Hf doping of \b{eta}-Ga2O3 single crystals using UV-Vis-NIR absorption and Hall Effect measurements and hybrid functional calculations. Unintentionally-doped and Hf-doped samples with a nominal concentration of 0.5at% were grown from the melt using vertical gradient freeze (VGF) and Czochralski method in mixed Ar+O2 atmosphere. We demonstrate Hf dopants, predicted to incorporate on the octahedral GaII site as a shallow donor, achieve degenerate doping in \b{eta}-Ga2O3 with a measured electron concentration 2 x 10^19 cm^-3 , mobility 80-65 cm^2 /Vs, and resistivity down to 5 mOhm-cm in our samples. The concentration of Hf was measured to be 1.3 x 10^19 atoms/cm^3 using glow discharge mass spectroscopy (GDMS) on doped samples, confirming Hf to be the cause of n-type conductivity (electron concentration ~2 x 10^19 cm-3).

McCluskey M.D.

In the field of high-power electronics, gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is attracting attention due to its wide bandgap and ability to be doped n-type. Point defects, including vacancies, impurities, and dopants, play important roles in optimizing device performance. This tutorial discusses the fundamental properties of point defects in monoclinic β-Ga2O3 and the methods employed to study them. Oxygen vacancies are deep donors that do not cause n-type conductivity but may compensate acceptors. Gallium vacancies are deep acceptors that can be partially passivated by hydrogen. Substitutional magnesium is a promising acceptor that produces a semi-insulating material and also forms a complex with hydrogen. Calcium and iron also have deep acceptor levels. Iridium deep donors are introduced into crystals grown from a melt in an Ir crucible. Other defects are introduced by irradiation with energetic particles such as neutrons or protons. In addition to altering the electronic properties, defects give rise to UV/visible emission bands in photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence spectra.

Shapenkov S., Vyvenko O., Ubyivovk E., Medvedev O., Varygin G., Chikiryaka A., Pechnikov A., Scheglov M., Stepanov S., Nikolaev V.

The growth of Ga2O3 films by halide vapor phase epitaxy on plain and cone‐shaped patterned sapphire substrates (PSS) is reported. The obtained specimens are characterized by X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, cathodoluminescence, optical transmission spectroscopy, and current–voltage measurements. Both types of Ga2O3 layers are of reasonably high crystal qualities; their physical properties, however, are very different. Under the same conditions, the growth on plain substrates results in a continuous α‐Ga2O3 layer, whereas the growth on PSS produces a regular array of α‐Ga2O3 columns on top of the sapphire cones with the space between them filled with ε‐Ga2O3. Ga2O3 films grown on plain sapphire are insulating; in contrast, Ga2O3 films grown on PSS are conducting. It is found that the conductivity of Ga2O3 on PSS follows the Arrhenius law with the activation energy of 0.33 eV. New luminescent bands for α‐ and ε‐phases are found. Spectral components of the defect‐related luminescence for α‐ and ε‐ phases are identified.

Zimmermann C., Frodason Y.K., Barnard A.W., Varley J.B., Irmscher K., Galazka Z., Karjalainen A., Meyer W.E., Auret F.D., Vines L.

Deep-level transient spectroscopy measurements on β- Ga 2 O 3 crystals reveal the presence of three defect signatures labeled E 2 a , E 2 b, and E 3 with activation energies at around 0.66 eV, 0.73 eV, and 0.95 eV below the conduction band edge. Using secondary ion mass spectrometry, a correlation between the defect concentration associated with E 3 and the Ti concentration present in the samples was found. Particularly, it is found that E 3 is the dominant Ti-related defect in β- Ga 2 O 3 and is associated with a single Ti atom. This finding is further corroborated by hybrid functional calculations that predict Ti substituting on an octahedral Ga site, denoted as Ti GaII, to be a good candidate for E 3. Moreover, the deep level transient spectroscopy results show that the level previously labeled E 2 and attributed to Fe substituting on a gallium site ( Fe Ga) consists of two overlapping signatures labeled E 2 a and E 2 b. We tentatively assign E 2 a and E 2 b to Fe substituting for Ga on a tetrahedral or an octahedral site, respectively.

Frodason Y.K., Johansen K.M., Vines L., Varley J.B.

This work explores the luminescence properties of self-trapped holes and impurity-related acceptors using one-dimensional configuration coordinate diagrams derived from hybrid functional calculations. The photoluminescence spectrum of as-grown β-Ga2O3 typically consists of a broad band in the wavelength region from ultraviolet to green and is often dominated by an impurity independent ultraviolet band that is commonly attributed to self-trapped holes. Here, we use the self-trapped hole as a benchmark to evaluate the accuracy of the theoretical defect luminescence spectra and estimate the optical properties of MgGa, BeGa, CaGa, CdGa, ZnGa, LiGa, and NO acceptor impurities, as well as their complexes with hydrogen donors. We also explore VGa acceptors complexed with hydrogen and SiGa donor impurities. The results show that these defects can give rise to broad luminescence bands peaking in the infrared to visible part of the spectrum, making them potential candidates for the defect origin of broad luminescence bands in β-Ga2O3.

Ghadi H., McGlone J.F., Jackson C.M., Farzana E., Feng Z., Bhuiyan A.F., Zhao H., Arehart A.R., Ringel S.A.

The results of a detailed investigation of electrically active defects in metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-grown β-Ga2O3 (010) epitaxial layers are described. A combination of deep level optical spectroscopy (DLOS), deep level transient (thermal) spectroscopy (DLTS), and admittance spectroscopy (AS) is used to quantitatively map the energy levels, cross sections, and concentrations of traps across the entire ∼4.8 eV bandgap. States are observed at EC-0.12 eV by AS; at EC-0.4 eV by DLTS; and at EC-1.2 eV, EC-2.0 eV, and EC-4.4 eV by DLOS. While each of these states have been reported for β-Ga2O3 grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) and edge-defined film fed grown (EFG), with the exception of the EC-0.4 eV trap, there is both a significantly different distribution in the concentration of these states and an overall ∼10× reduction in the total trap concentration. This reduction is consistent with the high mobility and low background compensating acceptor concentrations that have been reported for MOCVD-grown (010) β-Ga2O3. Here, it is observed that the EC-0.12 eV state dominates the overall trap concentration, in marked contrast with prior studies of EFG and MBE material where the state at EC-4.4 eV has dominated the trap spectrum. This sheds light on possible physical sources for this ubiquitous DLOS feature in β-Ga2O3. The substantial reduction in trap concentration for MOCVD material implies great promise for future high performance MOCVD-grown β-Ga2O3 devices.

Zhang J., Shi J., Qi D., Chen L., Zhang K.H.

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is an emerging wide bandgap semiconductor that has attracted a large amount of interest due to its ultra-large bandgap of 4.8 eV, a high breakdown field of 8 MV/cm, and high thermal stability. These properties enable Ga2O3 a promising material for a large range of applications, such as high power electronic devices and solar-blind ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors. In the past few years, a significant process has been made for the growth of high-quality bulk crystals and thin films and device optimizations for power electronics and solar blind UV detection. However, many challenges remain, including the difficulty in p-type doping, a large density of unintentional electron carriers and defects/impurities, and issues with the device process (contact, dielectrics, and surface passivation), and so on. The purpose of this article is to provide a timely review on the fundamental understanding of the semiconductor physics and chemistry of Ga2O3 in terms of electronic band structures, optical properties, and chemistry of defects and impurity doping. Recent progress and perspectives on epitaxial thin film growth, chemical and physical properties of defects and impurities, p-type doping, and ternary alloys with In2O3 and Al2O3 will be discussed.

Chen X., Ren F., Ye J., Gu S.

Polyakov A.Y., Nikolaev V.I., Stepanov S.I., Pechnikov A.I., Yakimov E.B., Smirnov N.B., Shchemerov I.V., Vasilev A.A., Kochkova A.I., Chernykh A.V., Pearton S.J.

Films of α-Ga2O3 doped with Sn were grown by halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on planar and patterned sapphire substrates. For planar substrates, with the same high Sn flow, the total concentration of donors was varying from 1017 cm−3 to high 1018 cm−3. The donor centers were shallow states with activation energies 35–60 meV, centers with levels near Ec–(0.1–0.14) eV (E1), and centers with levels near Ec–(0.35–0.4) eV (E2). Deeper electron traps with levels near Ec−0.6 eV (A), near Ec−0.8 eV (B), Ec−1 eV (C) were detected in capacitance or current transient spectroscopy measurements. Annealing of heavily compensated films in molecular hydrogen flow at 500 °C for 0.5 h strongly increased the concentration of the E1 states and increased the density of the E2 and A traps. For films grown on patterned substrates the growth started by the formation of the orthorhombic α-phase in the valleys of the sapphire pattern that was overgrown by the regions of laterally propagating α-phase. No improvement of the crystalline quality of the layers when using patterned substrates was detected. The electric properties, the deep traps spectra, and the effects of hydrogen treatment were similar to the case of planar samples.

Johnson J.M., Chen Z., Varley J.B., Jackson C.M., Farzana E., Zhang Z., Arehart A.R., Huang H., Genc A., Ringel S.A., Van de Walle C.G., Muller D.A., Hwang J.

Understanding the unique properties of ultra-wide band gap semiconductors requires detailed information about the exact nature of point defects and their role in determining the properties. Here, we report the first direct microscopic observation of an unusual formation of point defect complexes within the atomic scale structure of beta-Ga2O3 using high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Each complex involves one cation interstitial atom paired with two cation vacancies. These divacancy - interstitial complexes correlate directly with structures obtained by density functional theory, which predicts them to be compensating acceptors in beta-Ga2O3. This prediction is confirmed by a comparison between STEM data and deep level optical spectroscopy results, which reveals that these complexes correspond to a deep trap within the band gap, and that the development of the complexes is facilitated by Sn doping through the increase in vacancy concentration. These findings provide new insight on this emerging material's unique response to the incorporation of impurities that can critically influence their properties.

McGlone J.F., Xia Z., Joishi C., Lodha S., Rajan S., Ringel S., Arehart A.R.

Two buffer traps at EC-0.7 eV and EC-0.8 eV have been individually identified as causing threshold voltage and on-resistance instabilities in β-Ga2O3 Si ∂-doped transistors grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) on semi-insulating Fe doped β-Ga2O3 substrates. The instabilities are characterized using double-pulsed current-voltage and isothermal constant drain current deep level transient spectroscopy. The defect spectra are compared between transistors grown using two different unintentionally doped buffer layer thicknesses of 100 nm and 600 nm. The EC-0.8 eV trap was not seen using the thicker buffer and is shown to correlate with the presence of residual Fe in thePAMBE buffer layer. The EC-0.7 eV trap was unchanged in concentration and is revealed as the dominating source of the threshold voltage instability. This trap is consistent with the characteristics of a previously reported intrinsic point defect [Ingebrigtsen et al., APL Mater. 7, 022510 (2019)]. The EC-0.7 eV trap is responsible for ∼70% of the total threshold voltage shift in the 100 nm thick buffer transistor and 100% in the 600 nm thick buffer transistor, which indicates growth optimization is needed to improve β-Ga2O3 transistor stability.Two buffer traps at EC-0.7 eV and EC-0.8 eV have been individually identified as causing threshold voltage and on-resistance instabilities in β-Ga2O3 Si ∂-doped transistors grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) on semi-insulating Fe doped β-Ga2O3 substrates. The instabilities are characterized using double-pulsed current-voltage and isothermal constant drain current deep level transient spectroscopy. The defect spectra are compared between transistors grown using two different unintentionally doped buffer layer thicknesses of 100 nm and 600 nm. The EC-0.8 eV trap was not seen using the thicker buffer and is shown to correlate with the presence of residual Fe in thePAMBE buffer layer. The EC-0.7 eV trap was unchanged in concentration and is revealed as the dominating source of the threshold voltage instability. This trap is consistent with the characteristics of a previously reported intrinsic point defect [Ingebrigtsen et al., APL Mater. 7, 022510 (2019)]. The EC-0.7 eV trap is respons...

Moloney J., Tesh O., Singh M., Roberts J.W., Jarman J.C., Lee L.C., Huq T.N., Brister J., Karboyan S., Kuball M., Chalker P.R., Oliver R.A., Massabuau F.C.

Low temperature atomic layer deposition was used to deposit α-Ga2O3 films, which were subsequently annealed at various temperatures and atmospheres. The α-Ga2O3 phase is stable up to 400 °C, which is also the temperature that yields the most intense and sharpest reflection by x-ray diffraction. Upon annealing at 450 °C and above, the material gradually turns into the more thermodynamically stable e or β phase. The suitability of the materials for solar-blind photodetector applications has been demonstrated with the best responsivity achieved being 1.2 A W−1 under 240 nm illumination and 10 V bias, for the sample annealed at 400 °C in argon. It is worth noting however that the device performance strongly depends on the annealing conditions, with the device annealed in forming gas behaving poorly. Given that the tested devices have similar microstructure, the discrepancies in device performance are attributed to hydrogen impurities.

Kan D., Sugano S., Kosugi Y., Kobayashi K., Uebayashi N., Koganezawa T., Shimakawa Y.

Kobayashi T., Gake T., Kumagai Y., Oba F., Matsushita Y.

Polyakov A.Y., Lee I., Smirnov N.B., Yakimov E.B., Shchemerov I.V., Chernykh A.V., Kochkova A.I., Vasilev A.A., Ren F., Carey P.H., Pearton S.J.

The effects of hydrogen plasma treatment of β-Ga2O3 grown by halide vapor phase epitaxy and doped with Si are reported. Samples subjected to H plasma exposure at 330 °C developed a wide (∼2.5 μm-thick) region near the surface, depleted of electrons at room temperature. The thickness of the layer is in reasonable agreement with the estimated hydrogen penetration depth in β-Ga2O3 based on previous deuterium profiling experiments. Admittance spectroscopy and photoinduced current transient spectroscopy measurements place the Fermi level pinning position in the H treated film near Ec-1.05 eV. Annealing at 450 °C decreased the thickness of the depletion layer to 1.3 μm at room temperature and moved the Fermi level pinning position to Ec-0.8 eV. Further annealing at 550 °C almost restored the starting shallow donor concentration and the spectra of deep traps dominated by Ec-0.8 eV and Ec-1.05 eV observed before hydrogen treatment. It is suggested that hydrogen plasma exposure produces surface damage in the near-surface region and passivates or compensates shallow donors.The effects of hydrogen plasma treatment of β-Ga2O3 grown by halide vapor phase epitaxy and doped with Si are reported. Samples subjected to H plasma exposure at 330 °C developed a wide (∼2.5 μm-thick) region near the surface, depleted of electrons at room temperature. The thickness of the layer is in reasonable agreement with the estimated hydrogen penetration depth in β-Ga2O3 based on previous deuterium profiling experiments. Admittance spectroscopy and photoinduced current transient spectroscopy measurements place the Fermi level pinning position in the H treated film near Ec-1.05 eV. Annealing at 450 °C decreased the thickness of the depletion layer to 1.3 μm at room temperature and moved the Fermi level pinning position to Ec-0.8 eV. Further annealing at 550 °C almost restored the starting shallow donor concentration and the spectra of deep traps dominated by Ec-0.8 eV and Ec-1.05 eV observed before hydrogen treatment. It is suggested that hydrogen plasma exposure produces surface damage in the near-...

Wei Q., Liu X.

Qu H., Huang W., Zhang Y., Sui J., Yang G., Chen J., Zhang D.W., Wang Y., Lv Y., Feng Z., Zou X.

Kruszewski P., Fiedler A., Galazka Z.

In this Letter, we demonstrate the application of Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) and Laplace DLTS (L-DLTS) techniques to unintentionally doped β-Ga2O3 crystals grown by the Czochralski method. It is clearly shown that the capacitance signal associated with the electron emission from a trap level previously identified in the literature as E14 and characterized by an activation energy of 0.18 eV is found to be a superposition of electron emissions from two closely spaced energy levels. Furthermore, we noted that the corresponding L-DLTS signal splits into two well separated components with activation energies of 196 and 209 meV, and the splitting occurs as the electric field in the space charge region of a Schottky diode exceeds 2 × 107 V/m (0.2 MV/cm). Additionally, a strong dependency of DLTS and L-DLTS signals on the electric field strength and resulting enhancement of the electron emission from these two trap states agree well with the 1D Poole–Frenkel (PF) model, suggesting donor-like behavior of both states. Finally, we found that the barrier height for thermal emission of the electrons is significantly reduced in our samples by 121 meV due to the PF effect for experimental conditions corresponding to an electric field of 3.5 × 107 V/m (0.35 MV/cm).

Koishybayeva Z., Konusov F., Pavlov S., Sidelev D., Nassyrbayev A., Cheshev D., Gadyrov R., Tarbokov V., Akilbekov A.

Yue Y., Wang M., Xie W., Lu J.

Meyers V., Voss L., Flicker J.D., Rodriguez L.G., Hjalmarson H.P., Lehr J., Gonzalez N., Pickrell G., Ghandiparsi S., Kaplar R.

Photoconductive semiconductor switching (PCSS) devices have unique characteristics to address the growing need for electrically isolated, optically gated, picosecond-scale jitter devices capable of operating at high voltage, current, and frequency. The state of the art in material selection, doping, triggering, and system integration in PCSSs is presented. The material properties and doping considerations of GaN, GaAs, SiC, diamond, and β-Ga2O3 in the fabrication of PCSS devices are discussed. A review of the current understanding of the physics of the high-gain mode known as lock-on is presented.

Gong H., Yang X., Porter M., Yang Z., Wang B., Li L., Fu L., Sasaki K., Wang H., Gu S., Zhang R., Ye J., Zhang Y.

Ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) NiO/β-Ga2O3 p–n junction has recently emerged as a key building block for emerging electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, the long-term reliability of this bipolar junction remains elusive. Here, the temporal evolution of the transient parametric shift is characterized in this junction under the prolonged forward- and reverse-bias stresses as well as in the post-stress recoveries. The temperature-dependent evolutions reveal the energy level and time constant of the dominant trap. The forward-bias stress is found to induce a negative turn-on voltage (VON) shift, the magnitude of which correlates with the stressed current density, while the reverse-bias stress leads to the opposite effect. Such VON shift is induced by an electron trap with an activation energy of 0.46 eV, which may originate from native point defects in β-Ga2O3 near the junction interface. Under a high forward current stress of 1000 A/cm2, device failure is found to be located at the edge region with the thinnest NiO, which is likely to be caused by the injection of hot electrons that diffuse across the entire NiO layer. Overall, the magnitude of parametric shift is approaching or comparable to those reported in the native SiC and GaN p–n junctions, suggesting that the NiO/β-Ga2O3-based UWBG devices have good potential to achieve a reliability comparable to their WBG counterparts.

Qiao B., Zhang Z., Wang Y., Huang X., Zhang Z., Zheng Z., Sun X., Xie X., Li B., Chen X., Liu K., Liu L., Shen D.

Deng K., Huang S., Wang X., Yao Y., Yang Y., Yu L., Pei Y., An J., Jiang Q., Liu X., Yang S., Chen K.J.

AbstractThe exceptional physical properties of gallium nitride (GaN) position GaN‐based power devices as leading candidates for next‐generation high‐efficiency smart power conversion systems. However, GaN's multi‐component nature results in a high density of epitaxial defects, whereas the introduction of dielectric layers further contributes to severe interface states and dielectric traps. These factors collectively impair reliability, manifesting as threshold voltage instability and current collapse, which pose significant barriers to the advancement of GaN‐based electronics. Establishing the intrinsic relationship between device reliability and defects is crucial for understanding and addressing reliability degradation issue. Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) offers valuable insights by revealing defect‐induced changes in electrical parameters during the capture and emission processes under varying biases, thereby elucidating the influence of defects from GaN buffer layers, AlGaN barriers, dielectric layer, and even at dielectric/(Al)GaN interfaces. This research aims to provide a foundational understanding of reliability degradation whereas further enabling enhancements in device performance from the perspectives of epitaxial growth and process preparation, ultimately striving to improve the reliability of GaN‐based devices and unlock their full potential for practical applications.

Cao W., Qin X., Wang S.

Polycrystalline α-Ga2O3 thin films containing secondary phase SnO were grown on BaF2 substrates by magnetron sputtering. The impurity tin concentration, electron concentration, and room temperature mobility of the α-Ga2O3 films are 4.5 × 1020 cm−3, 1.5 × 1015 cm−3, and 26.9 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively, determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry and Hall effect experiments. The mobility vs temperature dependence confirms that the electrons are mainly subject to polar optical phonon scattering and ionized impurity scattering in the temperature range of 160–400 K. Two ionization energies, 29 and 71 meV, were determined for different temperature ranges by logarithmic resistivity vs the reciprocal of temperature, where the former is the shallow donor SnGa formed by the incorporation of tin into gallium sites. The latter is the shallow acceptor VSn–H associated with secondary phase SnO, and it is the electrical compensation of this shallow acceptor that results in the very low carrier concentration of α-Ga2O3 films. The photoluminescence spectrum exhibits 280 and 320 nm UV radiation, where 280 nm is due to the radiation recombination of electrons trapped by the deep donor state (EC−1.1 eV) with holes trapped by the VSn–H complex. In addition, there are several narrow radiation peaks in the visible region, and the energy levels involved in the radiation transitions are determined one by one after excluding the effects of interference and diffraction.

Chen Z., Smith M., Higashiwaki M., Kuball M.

Sheoran H., Kaushik J.K., Kumar V., Singh R.

Abstract A detailed investigation of deep traps in halide vapor-phase epitaxy (HVPE)-grown β-Ga2O3 epilayers has been done by performing deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) from 200 K to 500 K on Pt/β-Ga2O3 and Ni/β-Ga2O3 Schottky diodes. Similar results were obtained with a fill pulse width of 100 ms irrespective of the different Schottky metal contacts and epilayers. Two electron traps at E2 (E C–E T = 0.65 eV) and E3 (E C–E T = 0.68–0.70 eV) with effective capture cross-sections of 4.10 × 10−14 cm2 and 5.75 × 10−15 cm2 above 300 K were observed. Below 300 K, a deep trap with a negative DLTS signal peak was also observed at E1 (E C–E T = 0.34–0.35 eV) with a very low capture cross-section of 3.28 × 10−17 cm2. For a short pulse width of 100 μs, only two electron traps, E2 and E3, at energies of 0.72 eV and 0.73 eV were observed, and one order of higher corresponding effective capture cross-sections. All traps were found to be unaffected by the electric field during the field-dependent DLTS study. From the filling pulse width dependence DLTS study, a decrease in the capacitance transient amplitude with the increasing pulse width was observed opposite to the capture barrier kinetics of the traps and attributed to the emission of carriers during the capture process. Trap concentrations were found to be high at the interface using depth profiling DLTS. Based on the available literature, it is suggested that these traps are related to FeGa, Fe-related centers, and complexes with hydrogen or shallow donors, and might be affected or generated during metallization by the electron beam evaporator and chemical mechanical polishing.

Yan Z., Zhi Y., Ji X., Yue J., Wang J., Liu Z., Li S., Li P., Hou S., Wu G., Lei J., Tang W.

Ga2O3 is a promising material for deep-ultraviolet (DUV) photodetectors due to its ultra-wide bandgap and high thermal and chemical stability. However, because of their relatively low responsivity, Ga2O3-based photodetectors still have difficulty meeting the requirements of practical applications. Here, we construct a high-performance Ga2O3 photodetector realized by back-illumination. Utilizing high-crystallinity epitaxially grown Ga2O3 as the DUV absorbing layer and the double-polished Al2O3 substrate as the transparent window for injection of photons, the device operating in the back-illuminated mode exhibits a higher DUV photoresponse and faster response speed than in the front-illuminated mode. Therefore, our experimental results have led to the development of a novel strategy for designing and fabricating high-performance Ga2O3 photodetectors.

Lee T., Park S., Choi J., Chung S., Kim M., Lee G., Cho S., Bae S., Kim I.R., Kim M.K., Lim B.C., Schweitz M.A., Koo S.

We investigated the electrical characterization and defect properties of Ga2O3/SiC hetero-structured Schottky diodes manufactured by mist chemical vapor deposition. For a comprehensive analysis of the impact of post deposition annealing with nitrogen (N2), various characterization techniques were employed, including current density-voltage (J-V), capacitance-voltage (1/C2-V), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). The on/off ratios, barrier heights and ideality factors of non-annealed and N2-annealed diodes were investigated using J-V characteristics. It was confirmed that electrical characteristics were improved in the N2-annealed diode. By analyses of 1/C2-V characteristics, the built-in voltage (Vbi) and near surface to bulk carrier concentrations were obtained. Surface topography and roughness, observed through AFM, indicated enhanced crystal quality of the N2-annealed diode. Deep level trap parameters and possible distributions of each trap were extracted from DLTS spectra and Arrhenius plots. The N2-annealing process increased the defects originating from extrinsic impurities at 0.226 eV, while decreasing the traps associated with oxygen vacancies at 0.950 eV and 1.257 eV, which can act as recombination centers. This suggests that the N2-annealing process reduces oxygen vacancies by nitrogen atoms occupying the vacancy sites, leading to a more ordered crystal lattice. Consequently, electrical conductivity, carrier mobility, and overall device performance could be enhanced.

Wang Z., Tang F., Ren F., Liang H., Cui X., Xu S., Gu S., Zhang R., Zheng Y., Ye J.

AbstractIn this work, the optical transition of self‐trapped excitons (STEs) and the emergent green emission in β‐Ga2O3 samples with/without Sn impurities at various doping levels have been investigated via temperature‐ and power‐dependent photoluminescence. The ultraviolet (UV) emissions ≈ 3.40 eV unanimously exhibit an excitonic nature related to STEs and typical negative thermal quenching (NTQ) characters. The NTQ activation energy decreases from 103.56 to 42.37 meV with the increased electron concentration from 2.1 × 1016 to 6.7 × 1018 cm−3, indicative of the reduced energy barrier that electrons should overcome to form stable STEs due to the lift‐up of Fermi level. In comparison, the green emissions ≈ 2.35 eV with two quenching channels are observed only in samples with Sn impurities at cryogenic temperatures. One channel is the nsnp‐ns2 transition of Sn2+, the other is donor‐acceptor pair recombination via (2VGa‐Sni)2− complex, which is energetically favorable as evidenced by density functional theory calculations. The semi‐classical quantum theory models fitting proves the transition from green to UV emissions with elevated temperature. The enhanced STEs emission with distinguished NTQ effect strengthens evidence that the stable polarons inherently limit the transport of holes in Ga2O3, and also support the potential of Ga2O3 materials for the development of UV optoelectronics.