(Invited) Chemical Vapor Deposition and Characterization of Epitaxial Ga2O3 Polymorphs

Tuesday, 11 October 2022: 14:20
Room 213 (The Hilton Atlanta)
L. M. Porter, K. Jiang, J. Tang, M. J. Cabral, and R. F. Davis (Carnegie Mellon University)
Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is an emerging ultra-wide band gap semiconductor that is attracting growing interest for high-efficiency electronics that can operate in extreme conditions, such as high-power/high-frequency/high-temperature electronics and optoelectronics operating in the ultraviolet region. The existence of different phases, or polymorphs, of Ga2O3 presents both a challenge and an opportunity to fabricate highly ordered Ga2O3 films with control over phase, microstructure and morphology. The monoclinic β-Ga2O3 phase is the thermodynamically stable polymorph at atmospheric conditions up to its melting point and is the one most investigated. The other phases (in epitaxial form) are also of interest, as their crystal structures have higher symmetry and all are ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors. These metastable polymorphs also possess unique properties (e.g., high spontaneous polarization / ferroelectricity) that can extend the types of devices based on Ga2O3. Furthermore, the ability to grow different Ga2O3 polymorphs presents opportunities to modulate bandgaps of structurally-matched (In,Ga,Al)2O3 ternary alloys (from In2O3 (Eg = 3.7 eV) to Al2O3 (Eg = 8.8 eV)). In this presentation the unique properties and attributes of Ga2O3 phases of interest for devices will be presented, as will our results on MOCVD growth of epitaxial films of phase-pure vs. mixed-phase Ga2O3 polymorphs. Specifically, we will report on variables (e.g., temperature, TEGa flow rate, and substrate) that we have used to achieve unprecedented control over the resulting polymorph. We will also show our characterization results of phase composition, microstructure, and morphology using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy.