Perspective on atomic scale investigation of point and extended defects in gallium oxide

Abstract

Beta-gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) has recently attracted significant attention as an outstanding candidate for ultra-wide bandgap applications due to its unique advantages. Point and extended defects in β-Ga2O3 can significantly reduce the net doping and play an essential role with their functionality in advancing β-Ga2O3 device performance. It is, therefore, critical to gain an atomic level understanding of the structure of the defects and how they correlate to important properties of defects in β-Ga2O3. In this Perspective, we provide an overview of the recent characterization works involving scanning transmission electron microscopy and related techniques revealing the detailed structure of various point and extended defects in β-Ga2O3 and β-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 heterostructures. This article aims to offer insight into how defects determine important aspects of the material, such as in crystal growth, dopant incorporation and activation, and phase stability. The new information that we summarize here is expected to help achieve atomic scale control of defects in β-Ga2O3 materials and devices for development of the next generation power electronics applications.