In-Doped Gallium Oxide Micro- and Nanostructures: Morphology, Structure, and Luminescence Properties

• Published in: Journal of physical chemistry. C 2012-02, Vol.116 (6), p.3935-3943
• Main Authors: López, Iñaki, Utrilla, Antonio D, Nogales, Emilio, Méndez, Bianchi, Piqueras, Javier, Peche, Andrea, Ramírez-Castellanos, J, González-Calbet, Jose M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Diffusion in nanoscale solids; Diffusion in solids; Exact sciences and technology; Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties; Materials science; Methods of nanofabrication; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Physics; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Transport properties of condensed matter (nonelectronic)
• ISSN: 1932-7447; 1932-7455
• DOI: 10.1021/jp210233p

The influence of indium doping on morphology, structural, and luminescence properties of gallium oxide micro- and nanostructures is reported. Indium-doped gallium oxide micro- and nanostructures have been grown by thermal oxidation of metallic gallium in the presence of indium oxide. The dominant morphologies are beltlike structures, which in many cases are twisted leading to springlike structures, showing that In diffusion in Ga2O3 influences the microstructure shapes. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy has revealed the presence of twins in the belts, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has detected a segregation of indium impurities at the edges of planar structures. These results suggest that indium plays a major role in the observed morphologies and support the assumption of a layer by layer model as growth mechanism. An additional assessment of indium influence on the defect structure has been performed by cathodoluminescence in the SEM, X-ray photoelectron microscopy, and spatially resolved Raman spectroscopy.