New Findings on the Interpretation of XRD Rocking Curves for Ga₂O₃ Thin Films

Cross-sectional STEM images of epitaxial Ga2O3 thin films, grown on α-Al2O3(00.1) by IBSD: (a) a 2 nm thick film, (b) a 22 nm thick film. Regions of interest (c) and (d) show two orientation variants of β-Ga2O3 crystallites in (c) [122] and (d) [102] projections. Insets in (c) and (d) are FFT images of the regions of interest. Yellow arrow in (d) points at the boundary between antiphase domains of β-Ga2O3. Image: Andriy Lotnyk

Due to its very large band gap and exceptional electrical breakdown field strength, gallium oxide is one of the most interesting semiconductor materials and the subject of extensive research. For several years, researchers from the Department of Barrier and Precision Coatings at IOM have been investigating the growth of Ga2O3 thin films using various deposition techniques. Their latest paper highlights the challenges involved in correctly interpreting X-ray rocking curves of Ga2O3 thin films heteroepitaxially grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by ion beam sputter deposition and pulsed laser deposition.

The study has recently been published as an open-access article in the Journal of Applied Physics:

D. Kalanov, A. Lotnyk, J. W. Gerlach, V. Roddatis, C. Petersen, C. Bundesmann, H. von Wenckstern, Y. Unutulmazsoy 
On the interpretation of the XRD rocking curves of heteroepitaxial Ga2O3 thin films grown on c-plane sapphire
J. Appl. Phys. 139 (2026) 015302, https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0301746

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