Ion-Beam Modification of Metastable Gallium Oxide Polymorphs

Gallium oxide with a corundum structure ({\alpha}-Ga2O3) has recently attracted great attention in view of electronic and photonic applications due to its unique properties including a wide band gap exceeding that of the most stable beta phase (\b{eta}-Ga2O3). However, the lower thermal stability of the {\alpha}-phase at ambient conditions in comparison with the \b{eta}-phase requires careful investigation of its resistance to other external influences such as ion irradiation, ion doping, etc. In this work, the structural changes under the action of Al+ ion irradiation have been investigated for a polymorphic gallium oxide layers grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy on c-plane sapphire and consisting predominantly of {\alpha}-phase with inclusions of {\alpha}(\k{appa})-phase. It is established by the X-ray diffraction technique that inclusions of {\alpha}(\k{appa})-phase in the irradiated layer undergo the expansion along the normal to the substrate surface, while there is no a noticeable deformation for the {\alpha}-phase. This speaks in favor of the different radiation tolerance of various Ga2O3 polymorphs, especially the higher radiation tolerance of the {\alpha}-phase. This fact should be taken into account when utilizing ion implantation to modify gallium oxide properties in terms of development of efficient doping strategies.