The surface band structure of β-Ga₂O₃

Abstract

Ga2O3 belongs to the group of transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) with a wide band gap and electrical conductivity. It exhibits the largest band gap with Eg = 4.8 eV and thus a unique transparency from the visible into the UV region. The information on the electronic structure of β-Ga2O3 is very scarce. This is in part due to the challenging problem of growing high purity single crystals. Transparent semiconducting β-Ga2O3 single crystals were grown by the Czochralski method from an iridium crucible under a dynamic protective atmosphere to control partial pressures of volatile species of Ga2O3. The investigated samples were characterized by different techniques (LEED, Laue, and STM). The experimental valence band structure of the of β-Ga2O3 single crystals along Γ-Z and A-M symmetry directions of the (100)-surface of Brillouin zone was determined by high-resolution angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) utilizing synchrotron radiation. The experimental band structure is compared and discussed with the theoretical calculations. The effect of changing the temperature from 300K to 20K on the experimental band structure β-Ga2O3 was studied.