Microstructure Evolution and Electrical Behaviors for High-Performance Cu<sub>2</sub>O/Zr-Doped β-Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Heterojunction Diodes
Jiangyiming Jiang, Simeng Wu, Peisen Liu, Yun Tian
Abstract
Beta-gallium oxide (β-Ga 2 O 3 ) is emerging as a promising ultrawide band gap (UWBG) semiconductor, which is vital for high-power, high-frequency electronics and deep-UV optoelectronics. It is especially significant for flexible wearable electronics, enabling the fabrication of high-performance Ga 2 O 3 -based devices at low temperatures. However, the limited crystallinity and pronounced structural defects arising from the low-temperature deposition of Ga 2 O 3 films significantly restrict the heterojunction interface quality and the relevant electrical performance of Ga 2 O 3 -based devices. In this work, cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O)/Zr-doped β-Ga 2 O 3 heterojunction diodes are fabricated by magnetron sputtering without intentional substrate heating, followed by an investigation into their microstructure and electrical behaviors. Zr doping can markedly enhance the Ga 2 O 3 crystallinity at low substrate temperatures, transforming the amorphous structure of pristine Ga 2 O 3 films into the crystallized β phase. Moreover, crystalline β-Ga 2 O 3 facilitates the epitaxial growth of the Cu 2 O phase, suppressing the formation of detrimental secondary phase CuO at the heterojunction interface. Benefiting from the high-quality heterojunction interface, the Cu 2 O/Zr-doped β-Ga 2 O 3 heterojunction diode exhibits a near-ideal electrical behavior with a low ideality factor of 1.6. The consistent electrical parameters extracted from current–voltage ( J–V ) and capacitance–voltage ( C–V ) measurements also confirm the high quality of β-Ga 2 O 3 . This work highlights the potential for the low-temperature production of high-quality β-Ga 2 O 3 -based heterojunction devices through Zr doping.