Selective area isolation of beta-Ga2O3 using multiple energy nitrogen ion implantation

In this study, we report on the application of multiple energy nitrogen ion implantation for the electrical isolation of electronic devices on monoclinic beta-Ga2O3. By the introduction of uniformly distributed midgap damage-related levels in the Ga2O3 crystal lattice, we are able to increase the sheet resistances by more than 9 orders of magnitude to >= 10(13) Omega/sq which remains stable up to annealing temperatures of 600 degrees C carried out for 60 s under a nitrogen atmosphere. At higher annealing temperatures, the damage-related trap levels are being removed causing a significant drop of the sheet resistance down to 4 x 10(5) Omega/sq for annealing temperatures of 800 degrees C. This effect is preceded by a structural recovery of the implantation damages via the recrystallization of the crystal lattice at already 400 degrees C as verified by x-ray diffraction measurements. The extracted activation energies of the deep states controlling the high resistivity of Ga2O3 after implantation are in the range of 0.7 eV, showing a strong correlation with the annealing temperature dependence of the sheet resistance and thus supporting the theory of a damage-induced isolation mechanism. Published by AIP Publishing.