【Epitaxy Papers】Investigating Role of Annealing in Shaping Morphological, Structural, Tribological, and Optical Characteristics of Gallium Oxide (Ga₂O₃): Insights from DFT Analysis

      Researchers from the IIT Guwahati have published a dissertation titled "Investigating Role of Annealing in Shaping Morphological, Structural, Tribological, and Optical Characteristics of Gallium Oxide (Ga₂O₃): Insights from DFT Analysis" in Journal of Alloys and Compounds.

Abstract

      In this present investigation, the impact of annealing temperature on gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃) has been analyzed experimentally and theoretically. The Ga₂O₃ thin films were fabricated through the radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method on a c-plane sapphire substrate. The as-deposited Ga₂O₃ thin films were further annealed at different temperatures, i.e., 750 °C, 850 °C, and 950 °C, respectively, to understand the impact of annealing temperature on the structural, morphological, tribological, and optical properties. Crystallite size and surface morphology have been observed to vary with the annealing temperature. Optical analysis of investigated samples reveals that the energy bandgap of as-deposited Ga₂O₃ thin films depends on the annealing temperature. Photoluminescence (PL) analysis suggests that various defect levels have been minimized on annealing of as-deposited Ga₂O₃ thin film up to 850 °C. In addition, a density functional theory (DFT) analysis was performed to validate the change in structural characteristics and band structure of as-deposited Ga₂O₃ and annealed samples. Ga₂O₃ thin films optimized at an annealing temperature of 850 °C have shown significant improvements in structural, tribological, and optical properties, which may be suitable for optoelectronic devices.

DOI：

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2024.178367