【International Papers】High-rate growth of gallium oxide films by plasma-enhanced thermal oxidation for solar-blind photodetectors

      Recently, the research team of School of Electronic Science and Technology of Xiamen University and Queensland University of Technology in Australia published a paper named High rate growth of gallium oxide films by plasma enhanced thermal oxidation for solar blind photodetectors in the scientific journal Sciencedirect.

Abstract

      Almost all reported high-performance β-Ga₂O₃ thin films are grown by molecular beam epitaxy, metal–organic chemical vapor deposition, and pulsed laser deposition at a very high cost and low throughput. To explore the fast growth method for β-Ga₂O₃ with high quality and low cost, a custom-made plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is designed for innovative thermal oxidation of gallium nitride. It is shown that the growth rate of gallium oxide thin films prepared by the plasma-enhanced thermal oxidation (PETO) is 2 to 5 times higher than that of thermal oxidation process under similar growth conditions. For β-Ga₂O₃ thin films prepared by the PETO, the high-rate growth, low root-mean-square roughness, and growth with the orientation along (-201) lattice plane are achieved. The developed growth mechanism elucidates the role of the O₂ and Ar + O₂ plasma-surface interactions in the β-Ga₂O₃ growth process. Solar-blind photodetectors based on the β-Ga₂O₃ films grown by the PETO with a high solar blind-to-UV rejection ratio (R_{245 nm}/R_{360 nm} = 10.2), a low rise time of 0.17 s, and a low fall time of 0.2 s are demonstrated. The plasma-surface interaction effects are generic and are applicable to a broader range of materials systems and devices for diverse applications.

Paper Link：https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2023.157162