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

This is a review article on the current status and future prospects of the research and development on gallium oxide (Ga2O3) power devices. Ga2O3 possesses excellent material properties, in particular for power device applications. It is also attractive from an industrial viewpoint since large-size, high-quality wafers can be manufactured from a single-crystal bulk synthesized by melt–growth methods. These two features have drawn much attention to Ga2O3 as a new wide bandgap semiconductor following SiC and GaN. In this review, we describe the recent progress in the research and development on fundamental technologies of Ga2O3 devices, covering single-crystal bulk and wafer production, homoepitaxial thin film growth by molecular beam epitaxy and halide vapor phase epitaxy, as well as device processing and characterization of metal–semiconductor field-effect transistors, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors and Schottky barrier diodes.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0268-1242/31/3/034001/pdf

Recent progress in Ga2O3 power devices

The successful growth of 2-in. β-Ga2O3 crystals by the edge-defined, film fed growth (EFG) method was demonstrated. The optimization of growth conditions for larger single crystalline β-Ga2O3 is discussed in detail. The seeding conditions of temperature and neck width were found to be the most important factors to grow single crystals. X-ray rocking curve measurements of β-Ga2O3 crystals were conducted to estimate the dislocation densities of the grown crystals. Etch pit densities (EPDs) of the β-Ga2O3 crystals were also measured using KOH solution to measure the dislocation densities. The results were discussed combining with crystal growth parameters such as neck width to clarify the mechanisms of propagation and the origin of dislocations in crystals from phenomenological and crystallographic points of view.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1143/JJAP.47.8506/pdf

Growth of β-Ga2O3Single Crystals by the Edge-Defined, Film Fed Growth Method

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Guest Editorial: The dawn of gallium oxide microelectronics

Large-size β-Ga2O3 single crystals and wafers

Absorption and reflection spectra of β-Ga2O3 are measured with polarized light in the wavelength region near its absorption edge. The crystals of β-Ga2O3 are grown by using a Ga/HCl/O2/Ar vapor reaction system. The platelike crystals of β-Ga2O3 have (100), (010), and (001) surfaces, and the major surface is (100). The energies of the absorption edge are observed to be 4.90 eV for E//b, 4.54 eV for E//c, and 4.56 eV for E⊥b&c at room temperature. The energies for E//b and for E//c at 77 K are larger than those at room temperature by 40 meV and 220 meV, respectively. Reflection minima are observed at 5.06 eV and 5.30 eV for E//b, and at 4.63 eV and 5.30 eV for E//c at room temperature.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1143/JJAP.13.1578/pdf

Absorption and Reflection of Vapor Grown Single Crystal Platelets of β-Ga2O3

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1143/JJAP.13.737/pdf

Takashi Matsumoto

Papers

Absorption and Reflection of Vapor Grown Single Crystal Platelets of β-Ga2O3

Refractive Index of β-Ga2 O3