Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society

In this study, we investigated the growth of single-crystallinity α-Ga2O3 thin films on c-plane sapphire substrates using halide vapor pressure epitaxy. We also found the optimal growth conditions to suppress the phase transition of α-Ga2O3. Our results confirmed that the growth temperature and partial pressure of the reactive gas greatly influenced the crystallinity. The optimal growth temperature range was about 460~510oC, and the α-Ga2O3 thin films with the highest crystallinity were obtained at a III/VI ratio of 4. The thickness and surface morphology of the thin films was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The film thickness was 6.938 μm, and the full width at half maximum of the ω-2θ scan rocking curve was as small as 178 arcsec. The optical band gap energy obtained was 5.21 eV, and the films were almost completely transparent in the near-ultraviolet and visible regions. The etch pit density was found to be as low as about 6.0 × 104 cm−2.

Keywords HVPE, α-Ga2O3, Al2O3, Heteroepitaxy, Single crystal