Epitaxial Growth of β-Ga2O3 Thin Films on Si with YSZ Buffer Layer

We report the epitaxial growth of ((2) over bar 01)-oriented ss-Ga2O3 thin films on a (001) Si substrate using the pulsed laser deposition technique employing epitaxial yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) buffer layers. Epitaxial ss-Ga2O3 thin films possess a biaxial compressive strain on YSZ single-crystal substrates while they exhibit a biaxial tensile strain on YSZ-buffered Si substrates. Postannealing improves the crystalline quality of ss-Ga2O3 thin films. High-resolution X-ray diffraction analyses reveal that the epitaxial ((2) over bar 01) ss-Ga2O3 thin films on Si have eight in-plane domain variants to accommodate the large difference in the crystal structure between monoclinic ss-Ga2O3 and cubic YSZ. The results provide a pathway to integrate epitaxial ss-Ga2O3 thin films on a Si gold standard substrate, which will expand the application scope beyond high-power electronics.

Automated summary

In this research, epitaxial growth of ((2) over bar 01)-oriented ss-Ga2O3 thin films on (001) Si substrate was achieved using pulsed laser deposition technique with epitaxial yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) buffer layers. The films showed biaxial compressive strain on YSZ single-crystal substrates and biaxial tensile strain on YSZ-buffered Si substrates. Postannealing improved the crystalline quality of the films. High-resolution X-ray diffraction analyses revealed eight in-plane domain variants in the epitaxial ((2) over bar 01) ss-Ga2O3 thin films on Si, allowing for the large difference in the crystal structure between monoclinic ss-Ga2O3 and cubic YSZ. These results provide a pathway for integrating epitaxial ss-Ga2O3 thin films on Si substrates and expanding their application beyond high-power electronics.