【Epitaxy Papers】Low-cost gallium oxide films prepared by magnetron sputtering and bidirectional-driven tunable near-ultraviolet LEDs

      Researchers from the Henan University of Science and Technology have published a dissertation titled "Low-cost gallium oxide films prepared by magnetron sputtering and bidirectional-driven tunable near-ultraviolet LEDs" in Journal of Alloys and Compounds.

Abstract

      Ga₂O₃ material plays a significant role in the field of ultraviolet detection and emission due to its ultra-wide bandgap of 4.9 eV. However, high-quality Ga₂O₃ films require high preparation costs. In this paper, Ga₂O₃ films were prepared at low cost by radio frequency magnetron sputtering (RFMS). The obtained films were annealed at 900°C under different atmospheres (O₂, N₂, Vacuum), and the physical properties of the three samples were studied to determine the optimal annealing atmosphere. Under the optimized conditions, a p-GaN/i-Ga₂O₃/n-ZnO heterojunction light-emitting diode was fabricated using Ga₂O₃ as the electron blocking layer. The device exhibited excellent rectification characteristics, with a rectification ratio of nearly 100000 at room temperature. Under forward bias, the electroluminescence (EL) spectrum exhibits stable near-ultraviolet emission, featuring a dominant high-intensity peak centered at 361 nm. In contrast, reverse bias operation results in a distinct violet luminescence profile. In addition, the temperature dependence on the EL spectra of the device were also investigated, and the emission mechanism of the heterojunction diode was analyzed in combination with the band structure of the device. This study demonstrated the potential of Ga₂O₃ as an electron blocking layer for fabricating high-quality heterojunction light-emitting devices.

DOI：

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2025.185404