Band alignment characterizations of grafted GaAs/(2¯01) Ga2O3 heterojunction via x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Research on gallium oxide (Ga2O3) has accelerated due to its exceptional properties, including an ultrawide bandgap, native substrate availability, and n-type doping capability. However, significant challenges remain, particularly in achieving effective p-type doping, which hinders the development of Ga2O3-based bipolar devices like heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). To address this, we propose integrating mature III–V materials, specifically n-AlGaAs/p-GaAs as the emitter (E) and base (B) layers, with n-Ga2O3 as the collector (C) to form III–V/Ga2O3 n–p–n HBT. This hetero-material integration could be achieved using advanced semiconductor grafting techniques that could create arbitrary lattice-mismatched heterojunctions by introducing an ultrathin dielectric interfacial layer. This study focused on revealing the band alignment at the base–collector (B–C) junction using a n-Ga2O3(2¯01) orientated substrate combined with p-GaAs for potential HBT applications. We discovered a type-II band alignment between p-GaAs and Ga2O3(2¯01), with the p-GaAs conduction band approximately 0.614 eV higher than that of Ga2O3(2¯01). This staggered alignment allows for direct and efficient electron transport from the p-GaAs base to the n-Ga2O3 collector, avoiding the electron blocking issues present in p-GaAs/Ga2O3 (010) heterojunctions. Additionally, our study suggests the potentially existing type-II alignment between the (2¯01) and (010) Ga2O3 interfaces, highlighting the orientation-dependent band offsets. These findings are pivotal for developing high-performance Ga2O3-based HBTs, leveraging the strengths of Ga2O3 and well-established semiconductor materials to drive advancements in high-power electronics.