Influence of neutron irradiation on deep levels in Ge-doped (010) β-Ga2O3 layers grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

The impact of high energy neutron irradiation on the creation of specific radiation-induced deep level defect states and the ensuing influence of these defects on the electronic properties of (010) β-Ga2O3, doped with Ge and grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, were explored. A significant amount of carrier removal was observed in the irradiated samples exposed to 1 MeV equivalent neutron fluences of 8.5 × 1014 cm−2 and 1.7 × 1015 cm−2, which suggests the formation of compensating defects by neutron irradiation. Using a combination of deep level transient/optical spectroscopy (DLTS/DLOS) techniques to probe the entire ∼4.8 eV bandgap with high energy resolution, three specific trap states were introduced by neutron irradiation at EC-1.22 eV, EC-2.00 eV, and EC-0.78 eV. Of these, the former two states, observed by DLOS, were also present prior to irradiation, whereas the trap at EC-0.78 eV, observed by DLTS, was not evident prior to neutron irradiation. The radiation dependence suggests that intrinsic point defects are the likely physical sources for these states. Subsequent lighted capacitance-voltage measurements further revealed that these three states are the source for the observed strong carrier compensation, with the trap at EC-2.00 eV appearing as the strongest compensating defect for the neutron-irradiated β-Ga2O3.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2019
Source ID
10.1063/1.5126463

Entities

People

  • Aaron R. Arehart
  • Akhil Mauze
  • Esmat Farzana
  • James S. Speck
  • Joel B Varley
  • Steven A. Ringel
  • Thomas E. Blue

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • Ohio State University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics