Heteroepitaxial Growth of an Ultrathin β-GaO Film on a Sapphire Substrate Using Mist CVD with Fluid Flow Modeling.

β-Gallium oxide (GaO) has received intensive attention in the scientific community as a significant high-power switching semiconductor material because of its remarkable intrinsic physical characteristics and growth stability. This work reports the heteroepitaxial growth of the β-GaO ultrathin film on a sapphire substrate via mist chemical vapor deposition (CVD). This study used a simple solution-processed and nonvacuum mist CVD method to grow a heteroepitaxial β-GaO thin film at 700 °C using a Ga precursor and carrier gases such as argon and oxygen. Various characterization techniques were used to determine the properties of the thin film. Additionally, a computational study was performed to study the temperature distribution and different mist velocity profiles of the finite element mist CVD model. This simulation study is essential for investigating low to high mist velocities over the substrate and applying low velocity to carry out experimental work. XRD and AFM results show that the β-GaO thin film is grown on a sapphire substrate of polycrystalline nature with a smooth surface. HR-TEM measurement and UV-visible transmission spectrometry demonstrated heteroepitaxial β-GaO in an ultrathin film with a band gap of 4.8 eV.