Original version
Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics. 2023, 34 (15):1201, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10628-y
Abstract
Defects created in lightly Sn-doped (2 × 1016 cm−3) (010)-oriented bulk β-Ga2O3 implanted with 1.2 MeV, 3 × 1015 cm−2 197Au+ ions before and after treatment in hydrogen plasmas at 330 °C were studied by X-ray measurements, Rutherford backscattering spectra, capacitance–voltage, current–voltage, admittance spectra and deep level transient spectroscopy. Au implantation creates defects that produce total depletion of carriers in the top 1.5 µm and introduces electron traps with energy levels at Ec-0.7 eV, Ec-1.05 eV, Ec-0.45 eV, and deep acceptors with optical ionization thresholds near 1.3 eV, 2.3 eV and 3.1 eV, similar to the centers dominating the spectra of deep traps in β-Ga2O3. Hydrogen plasma treatment greatly enhances the photocurrent and photo-capacitance and decreases the width of the insulating layer produced by Au implantation. The results can be explained by hydrogen passivation of the triply charged Ga vacancies and doubly charged split Ga vacancies acceptors in the implanted region, returning part of this region to n-type conductivity.