skip to main content
Explore Scholarly Publications and Datasets in the NSF-PAR

This content will become publicly available on August 15, 2023

Title: Atomic-scale characterization of structural damage and recovery in Sn ion-implanted β-Ga 2 O 3
β-Ga 2 O 3 is an emerging ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor, holding a tremendous potential for power-switching devices for next-generation high power electronics. The performance of such devices strongly relies on the precise control of electrical properties of β-Ga 2 O 3 , which can be achieved by implantation of dopant ions. However, a detailed understanding of the impact of ion implantation on the structure of β-Ga 2 O 3 remains elusive. Here, using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, we investigate the nature of structural damage in ion-implanted β-Ga 2 O 3 and its recovery upon heat treatment with the atomic-scale spatial resolution. We reveal that upon Sn ion implantation, Ga 2 O 3 films undergo a phase transformation from the monoclinic β-phase to the defective cubic spinel [Formula: see text]-phase, which contains high-density antiphase boundaries. Using the planar defect models proposed for the [Formula: see text]-Al 2 O 3 , which has the same space group as β-Ga 2 O 3 , and atomic-resolution microscopy images, we identify that the observed antiphase boundaries are the {100}1/4 ⟨110⟩ type in cubic structure. We show that post-implantation annealing at 1100 °C under the N 2 atmosphere effectively recovers the β-phase; however, nano-sized voids retained more » within the β-phase structure and a [Formula: see text]-phase surface layer are identified as remanent damage. Our results offer an atomic-scale insight into the structural evolution of β-Ga 2 O 3 under ion implantation and high-temperature annealing, which is key to the optimization of semiconductor processing conditions for relevant device design and the theoretical understanding of defect formation and phase stability. « less
Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ;
Award ID(s):
1856662
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10349737
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Letters
Volume:
121
Issue:
7
Page Range or eLocation-ID:
072111
ISSN:
0003-6951
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ( , Applied Physics Letters)
    Beta-phase gallium oxide ([Formula: see text]-Ga 2 O 3 ) is a promising semiconductor for high frequency, high temperature, and high voltage applications. In addition to the [Formula: see text]-phase, numerous other polymorphs exist and understanding the competition between phases is critical to control practical devices. The phase formation sequence of Ga 2 O 3 , starting from amorphous thin films, was determined using lateral-gradient laser spike annealing at peak temperatures of 500–1400 °C on 400 μs to 10 ms timescales, with transformations characterized by optical microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The resulting phase processing map showed the [Formula: see text]-phase, a defect-spinel structure, first nucleating under all annealing times for temperatures from 650 to 800 °C. The cross-sectional TEM at the onset of the [Formula: see text]-phase formation showed nucleation near the film center with no evidence of heterogeneous nucleation at the interfaces. For temperatures above 850 °C, the thermodynamically stable [Formula: see text]-phase was observed. For anneals of 1–4 ms and temperatures below 1200 °C, small randomly oriented grains were observed. Large grains were observed for anneals below 1 ms and above 1200 °C, with anneals above 4 ms and 1200 °C resulting in textured films. The formation of the [Formula: see text]-phase prior tomore »[Formula: see text]-phase, coupled with the observed grain structure, suggests that the [Formula: see text]-phase is kinetically preferred during thermal annealing of amorphous films, with [Formula: see text]-phase subsequently forming by nucleation at higher temperatures. The low surface energy of the [Formula: see text]-phase implied by these results suggests an explanation for the widely observed [Formula: see text]-phase inclusions in [Formula: see text]-phase Ga 2 O 3 films grown by a variety of synthesis methods.« less
  2. ; ; ; ; ( , Journal of Applied Physics)
    The in situ metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth of Al 2 O 3 dielectrics on β-Ga 2 O 3 and β-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 films is investigated as a function of crystal orientations and Al compositions of β-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 films. The interface and film qualities of Al 2 O 3 dielectrics are evaluated by high-resolution x-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging, which indicate the growth of high-quality amorphous Al 2 O 3 dielectrics with abrupt interfaces on (010), (100), and [Formula: see text] oriented β-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 films. The surface stoichiometries of Al 2 O 3 deposited on all orientations of β-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 are found to be well maintained with a bandgap energy of 6.91 eV as evaluated by high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which is consistent with the atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al 2 O 3 dielectrics. The evolution of band offsets at both in situ MOCVD and ex situ ALD deposited Al 2 O 3 /β-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 is determined as a function of Al composition, indicating the influence of themore »deposition method, orientation, and Al composition of β-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 films on resulting band alignments. Type II band alignments are determined at the MOCVD grown Al 2 O 3 /β-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 interfaces for the (010) and (100) orientations, whereas type I band alignments with relatively low conduction band offsets are observed along the [Formula: see text] orientation. The results from this study on MOCVD growth and band offsets of amorphous Al 2 O 3 deposited on differently oriented β-Ga 2 O 3 and β-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 films will potentially contribute to the design and fabrication of future high-performance β-Ga 2 O 3 and β-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 based transistors using MOCVD in situ deposited Al 2 O 3 as a gate dielectric.« less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al ( , ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology)
    We present a review of the published experimental and simulation radiation damage results in Ga 2 O 3 . All of the polytypes of Ga 2 O 3 are expected to show similar radiation resistance as GaN and SiC, considering their average bond strengths. However, this is not enough to explain the orders of magnitude difference of the relative resistance to radiation damage of these materials compared to GaAs and dynamic annealing of defects is much more effective in Ga 2 O 3 . It is important to examine the effect of all types of radiation, given that Ga 2 O 3 devices will potentially be deployed both in space and terrestrial applications. Octahedral gallium monovacancies are the main defects produced under most radiation conditions because of the larger cross-section for interaction compared to oxygen vacancies. Proton irradiation introduces two main paramagnetic defects in Ga 2 O 3 , which are stable at room temperature. Charge carrier removal can be explained by Fermi-level pinning far from the conduction band minimum due to gallium interstitials (Ga i ), vacancies (V Ga ), and antisites (Ga O ). One of the most important parameters to establish is the carrier removal rate formore »each type of radiation, since this directly impacts the current in devices such as transistors or rectifiers. When compared to the displacement damage predicted by the Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter(SRIM) code, the carrier removal rates are generally much lower and take into account the electrical nature of the defects created. With few experimental or simulation studies on single event effects (SEE) in Ga 2 O 3 , it is apparent that while other wide bandgap semiconductors like SiC and GaN are robust against displacement damage and total ionizing dose, they display significant vulnerability to single event effects at high Linear Energy Transfer (LET) and at much lower biases than expected. We have analyzed the transient response of β -Ga 2 O 3 rectifiers to heavy-ion strikes via TCAD simulations. Using field metal rings improves the breakdown voltage and biasing those rings can help control the breakdown voltage. Such biased rings help in the removal of the charge deposited by the ion strike.« less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ( , ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology)

    The ion implantation of H+and D+into Ga2O3produces several O–H and O–D centers that have been investigated by vibrational spectroscopy. These defects include the dominant VGa(1)-2H and VGa(1)-2D centers studied previously along with additional defects that can be converted into this structure by thermal annealing. The polarization dependence of the spectra has also been analyzed to determine the directions of the transition moments of the defects and to provide information about defect structure. Our experimental results show that the implantation of H+(or D+) into Ga2O3produces two classes of defects with different polarization properties. Theory finds that these O–H (or O–D) centers are based on two shifted configurations of a Ga(1) vacancy that trap H (or D) atom(s). The interaction of VGa(1)-nD centers with other defects in the implanted samples has also been investigated to help explain the number of O–D lines seen and their reactions upon annealing. Hydrogenated divacancy VGa(1)-VOcenters have been considered as an example.

  5. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al ( , AIP Advances)
    The hot-wall metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) concept, previously shown to enable superior material quality and high performance devices based on wide bandgap semiconductors, such as Ga(Al)N and SiC, has been applied to the epitaxial growth of β-Ga 2 O 3 . Epitaxial β-Ga 2 O 3 layers at high growth rates (above 1 μm/h), at low reagent flows, and at reduced growth temperatures (740 °C) are demonstrated. A high crystalline quality epitaxial material on a c-plane sapphire substrate is attained as corroborated by a combination of x-ray diffraction, high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements. The hot-wall MOCVD process is transferred to homoepitaxy, and single-crystalline homoepitaxial β-Ga 2 O 3 layers are demonstrated with a [Formula: see text]01 rocking curve width of 118 arc sec, which is comparable to those of the edge-defined film-fed grown ([Formula: see text]01) β-Ga 2 O 3 substrates, indicative of similar dislocation densities for epilayers and substrates. Hence, hot-wall MOCVD is proposed as a prospective growth method to be further explored for the fabrication of β-Ga 2 O 3 .
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email