Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is emerging as a viable candidate for certain classes of power electronics, solar blind UV photodetectors, solar cells, and sensors with capabilities beyond existing technologies due to its large bandgap. It is usually reported that there are five different polymorphs of Ga2O3, namely, the monoclinic (β-Ga2O3), rhombohedral (α), defective spinel (γ), cubic (δ), or orthorhombic (e) structures. Of these, the β-polymorph is the stable form under normal conditions and has been the most widely studied and utilized. Since melt growth techniques can be used to grow bulk crystals of β-GaO3, the cost of producing larger area, uniform substrates is potentially lower compared to the vapor growth techniques used to manufacture bulk crystals of GaN and SiC. The performance of technologically important high voltage rectifiers and enhancement-mode Metal-Oxide Field Effect Transistors benefit from the larger critical electric field of β-Ga2O3 relative to either SiC or GaN. However, the absence of clear demonstrations of p-type doping in Ga2O3, which may be a fundamental issue resulting from the band structure, makes it very difficult to simultaneously achieve low turn-on voltages and ultra-high breakdown. The purpose of this review is to summarize recent advances in the growth, processing, and device performance of the most widely studied polymorph, β-Ga2O3. The role of defects and impurities on the transport and optical properties of bulk, epitaxial, and nanostructures material, the difficulty in p-type doping, and the development of processing techniques like etching, contact formation, dielectrics for gate formation, and passivation are discussed. Areas where continued development is needed to fully exploit the properties of Ga2O3 are identified.

A review of Ga2O3 materials, processing, and devices

A brief review of applications of piezoelectric bimorphs is presented. The constituent equations which describe the behavior of piezoelectric bimorphs for various mechanical boundary conditions are derived. The internal energy density of infinitesimally small volume elements in thermodynamic equilibrium is calculated in the presence of a voltage on the electrodes, a clamped cantilever beam condition on one side of the beam and a set of three different classical boundary conditions on the other side of the beam. These are a mechanical moment M at the end of the beam, a force F perpendicular to the beam, applied at its tip, and a uniformly distributed body force p.

The total internal energy content is calculated by integrating over the entire volume of the beam. Two different beam configurations are considered: parallel polarizations of the two adjoining elements of the beam with an internal electrode; and antiparallel orientation without an internal electrode.

The canonical conjugate of the moment is calculated as the angular deflection at the tip of the beam α, while that of the force at the tip is the local vertical deflection δ. The canonical conjugate of the uniform load on the beam is found to be the volume displacement V of the beam. The canonical conjugate of the voltage across the electrodes is the charge on the electrodes. The equations are given in the direct form, with external parameters (M, V), (F, V), and (p, V) as independent variables and also in a linear combination with (M, F, p, V) as variables.

These constituent equations can be used to calculate the behavior of the bimorph under any condition that can be described as a linear combination of forces at the tip, moments at the tip and uniform loads on the entire beam. This allows us to use the bimorph as a black box, without having to consider its internal movement or charges.

The constituent equations of piezoelectric bimorphs

Laser molecular beam epitaxy technology has been employed to deposit β-gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) on (0001) sapphire substrates. After optimizing the growth parameters, (2¯01)-oriented β-Ga2O3 thin film was obtained. Ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrum demonstrates that the prepared β-Ga2O3 thin film shows excellent solar-blind ultraviolet (UV) characteristic with a band gap of 5.02 eV. A prototype photodetector device with a metal-semiconductor-metal structure has been fabricated using high quality β-Ga2O3 film. The device exhibits obvious photoresponse under 254 nm UV light irradiation, suggesting a potential application in solar-blind photodetectors.

Fabrication of β-Ga_2O_3 thin films and solar-blind photodetectors by laser MBE technology

β-Ga2O3 thin films have been prepared on (0001) sapphire substrates by the sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction showed that β-Ga2O3 polycrystalline films were formed at heat-treatment temperatures above 600°C. With increasing heat-treatment temperature above 900°C, the lattice constants of the β-Ga2O3 films decreased, while the band gap increased. Planar geometry photoconductive detectors based on the sol-gel prepared β-Ga2O3 thin films have been fabricated. They showed the photoresponse only for the wavelengths shorter than 270nm, which correspond to the solar-blind region. The peak wavelength in the spectral response depended on the heat-treatment temperature in the sol-gel process.

Sol-gel prepared β-Ga2O3 thin films for ultraviolet photodetectors

Preparation of highly conductive, deep ultraviolet transparent β-Ga2O3 thin film at low deposition temperatures

Stability of semiconducting gallium oxide thin films

The preparation of oxygen sensors based on sputtered strontium titanate films is described. Like bulk materials, the thin films show p-type and n-type conductivity which depends on the oxygen partial pressure. Using mixtures of argon and oxygen at 95 °C, response times lower than 5 ms can be detected due to a change in the oxygen partial pressure. Because the temperature in an exhaust gas reaches its maximum value at lambda = 1, fast gas and lower temperature effects on the sensor signal of La-doped SrTiO 3 can be separated.

Fast oxygen sensors based on sputtered strontium titanate

H2-induced changes of electrical conductivity in polycrystalline, undoped β-Ga2O3 thin films in the temperature range of 400–650° C are described. The sheet conductance of these films depends reversibly, according to a power law σ□ ∼ p
1/3, on the partial pressure of hydrogen in the ambient atmosphere of the Ga2O3 film. A bulk vacancy mechanism is excluded by experiments and it is shown that the interaction is based on a surface effect. Changes in conductance are discussed to result from the formation of an accumulation layer due to chemisorption on the grain surfaces. Typical coverages are determined to be approximately 10−4 ML for pH2=0.05 bar and T=600° C. A possible explanation of the σ□ ∼ p
1/3 power law is provided.

H2-induced changes in electrical conductance of β-Ga2O3 thin-film systems

A fluid dosing device for a pressurised fluidic medium, includes a pressurised fluid chamber (13) in a housing (1), a valve needle (3) extending through the chamber (13) and having its first end (22) subjected to a stroke action outside the chamber (13 and its second end (23) forming, together with a valve seat (2) positioned on the housing (1), a valve joined to the chamber (13 A metal bellows (17) serves as the lead-in element for the first end (22) of the valve needle (3) from the chamber (13) outwards, in which the external pressure is less than internal chamber (13) pressure, the chamber being tightly hermetically sealed.

Fluid metering device

The authors describe a newly developed motor concept which allows a bidirectional piezoelectric ultrasonic motor to be operated with only a single voltage feed and thus only one power amplifier. The motor concept is based on the superposition of a longitudinal and a flexural oscillation of a rod-shaped resonator. In a way analogous to the generation of a Lissajous figure, this superposition produces a rotary movement of the resonator end by means of which a rotor is directly driven. By selecting the relative phase of the electrical stimulations of both modes, the speed can be continuously varied in both directions. The motor can be driven in both right and left directions with speeds of 0 to 300 r/min, and a freewheeling state can be set up by means of a suitable phase between the oscillation modes. In the off state, the motor blocks the motion. >

Hans Prof. Meixner

Papers

Stability of semiconducting gallium oxide thin films

Fast oxygen sensors based on sputtered strontium titanate

H2-induced changes in electrical conductance of β-Ga2O3 thin-film systems

Fluid metering device

New type of piezoelectric ultrasonic motor