Search Results (5)

This study reveals the significant role of the pre-melting process in growing high-quality (100) β-Ga₂O₃ single crystals from 4N powder (99.995% purity) using the edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) method. Among various bulk melt growth methods, the EFG method boasts a fast growth rate and the capability of growing multiple crystals simultaneously, thus offering high productivity. The pre-melting process notably enhanced the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the crystals by effectively eliminating impurities such as Si and Fe. Specifically, employing a 100% CO₂ atmosphere during pre-melting proved to be highly effective, reducing impurity concentrations and carrier scattering, which resulted in a decreased carrier concentration and an increased electron mobility in the grown Ga₂O₃ single crystals. These results demonstrate that pre-melting is a crucial technique for substantially improving crystal quality, thereby promising better performance in β-Ga₂O₃-based device applications. Full article

Beta-phase gallium oxide (β-Ga₂O₃) is a cutting-edge ultrawide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor, featuring a bandgap energy of around 4.8 eV and a highly critical electric field strength of about 8 MV/cm. These properties make it highly suitable for next-generation power electronics and deep ultraviolet optoelectronics. Key advantages of β-Ga₂O₃ include the availability of large-size single-crystal bulk native substrates produced from melt and the precise control of n-type doping during both bulk growth and thin-film epitaxy. A comprehensive understanding of the fundamental growth processes, control parameters, and underlying mechanisms is essential to enable scalable manufacturing of high-performance epitaxial structures. This review highlights recent advancements in the epitaxial growth of β-Ga₂O₃ through various techniques, including Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE), Mist Chemical Vapor Deposition (Mist CVD), Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD), and Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD). This review concentrates on the progress of Ga₂O₃ growth in achieving high growth rates, low defect densities, excellent crystalline quality, and high carrier mobilities through different approaches. It aims to advance the development of device-grade epitaxial Ga₂O₃ thin films and serves as a crucial resource for researchers and engineers focused on UWBG semiconductors and the future of power electronics. Full article

β-Ga₂O₃ nanostructures, including nanowires (NWs), nanosheets (NSHs), and nanorods (NRs), were synthesized using thermally dewetted Au nanoparticles as catalyst in a chemical vapor deposition process. The morphology of the as-grown β-Ga₂O₃ nanostructures depends strongly on the growth temperature and time. Successful growth of β-Ga₂O₃ NWs with lengths of 7–25 μm, NSHs, and NRs was achieved. It has been demonstrated that the vapor–liquid–solid mechanism governs the NW growth, and the vapor–solid mechanism occurs in the growth of NSHs and NRs. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the as-grown nanostructures were highly pure single-phase β-Ga₂O₃. The bandgap of the β-Ga₂O₃ nanostructures was determined to lie in the range of 4.68–4.74 eV. Characteristic Raman peaks were observed with a small blue and red shift, both of 1–3 cm⁻¹, as compared with those from the bulk, indicating the presence of internal strain and defects in the as-grown β-Ga₂O₃ nanostructures. Strong photoluminescence emission in the UV-blue spectral region was obtained in the β-Ga₂O₃ nanostructures, regardless of their morphology. The UV (374–377 nm) emission is due to the intrinsic radiative recombination of self-trapped excitons present at the band edge. The strong blue (404–490 nm) emissions, consisting of five bands, are attributed to the presence of the complex defect states in the donor (V_O) and acceptor (V_Ga or V_Ga–O). These β-Ga₂O₃ nanostructures are expected to have potential applications in optoelectronic devices such as tunable UV–Vis photodetectors. Full article

As a crystal grows, the temperature distribution of the crystal and melt will change. It is necessary to study the dynamic process of single-crystal growth. Due to the relatively low crystallization rates used in the industrial Czochralski growth system, a steady state is used to compute the temperature distribution and melt flow. A two-dimensional axisymmetric model of the whole Czochralski furnace was established. The dynamic growth process of large-size bulk β-Ga₂O₃ single crystal using the Czochralski method has been numerically analyzed with the parameter sweep method. In this paper, two cases of internal radiation and no internal radiation were compared to study the effect of radiation on the process parameters. The temperature distribution of the furnace, the temperature field, and the flow field of the melt was calculated. The temperature, the temperature gradient of the crystal, the temperature at the bottom of the crucible, and the heater power were studied for the crystals grown in the two cases of radiation. The results obtained in this study clearly show that the loss calculated by including the internal radiation is higher compared to that including the surface radiation. Full article

The difficulties in growing large-size bulk $\beta$-Ga₂O₃ single crystals with the Czochralski method were numerically analyzed. The flow and temperature fields for crystals that were four and six inches in diameter were studied. When the crystal diameter is large and the crucible space becomes small, the flow field near the crystal edge becomes poorly controlled, which results in an unreasonable temperature field, which makes the interface velocity very sensitive to the phase boundary shape. The effect of seed rotation with increasing crystal diameter was also studied. With the increase in crystal diameter, the effect of seed rotation causes more uneven temperature distribution. The difficulty of growing large-size bulk $\beta$-Ga₂O₃ single crystals with the Czochralski method is caused by spiral growth. By using dynamic mesh technology to update the crystal growth interface, the calculation results show that the solid–liquid interface of the four-inch crystal is slightly convex and the center is slightly concave. With the increase of crystal growth time, the symmetry of cylindrical crystal will be broken, which will lead to spiral growth. The numerical results of the six-inch crystal show that the whole solid–liquid interface is concave and unstable, which is not conducive to crystal growth. Full article