journal article·2019-02-01Open access

Deep acceptors and their diffusion in Ga2O3

Hartwin Peelaers, John L. Lyons, Joel B. Varley, Chris G. Van de Walle

APL Materials· Volume 7· Issue 2

Abstract

β–Ga2O3 is a wide-bandgap material with promising applications in high-power electronics. While n-type doping is straightforward, p-type doping is elusive, with only deep acceptors available. We explore the properties of these acceptors, from the point of view of achieving stable semi-insulating layers, which are essential in many device structures. Using hybrid density functional theory, we obtain the comprehensive first-principles results for a variety of deep-acceptor impurities in Ga2O3. Among the impurities examined, nitrogen on an oxygen site and magnesium on a gallium site have particularly low formation energies, making them prime candidates for acceptor doping. Closer inspection of various configurations shows that Mg can incorporate not only on Ga sites (where it acts as a deep acceptor under n-type conditions) but also on O sites, where it acts as a deep donor. Mg interstitials adopt a split-interstitial configuration, sharing a site with a host Ga atom. Similarly, N substituting on an O site acts as a compensating center, but N can also incorporate on the Ga site. We evaluate the diffusivities of these species in the crystal by calculating migration barriers and considering which native defects assist in diffusion. We find that diffusion of N is dominantly assisted by O vacancies, while Mg diffusion is assisted by gallium interstitials. Diffusion of Mg proceeds with significantly lower activation energies than diffusion of N. Our results can be used to assess activation energies and diffusion mechanisms for other impurities in Ga2O3.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Ga2O3 and related materials · ZnO doping and properties · Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Materials Department, University of California 1 , Santa Barbara, California 93106-5050, USA

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas 2 , Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA

Center for Computational Materials Science, US Naval Research Laboratory 3 , Washington, DC 20375, USA

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 4 , Livermore, California 94550, USA

Funding

Division of Materials Research · Division of Computer and Network Systems · U.S. Department of Energy · Office of Naval Research · Air Force Office of Scientific Research

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