Epitaxial Growth and Bandgap Control of Ni1-xMgxO Thin Film Grown by Mist Chemical Vapor Deposition Method

ABSTRACTWide-bandgap oxide semiconductors have received significant attention as they can produce devices with high output and breakdown voltage. p-Type conductivity control is essential to realize bipolar devices. Therefore, as a rare wide-bandgap p-type oxide semiconductor, NiO (3.7 eV) has garnered considerable attention. In view of the heterojunction device with Ga2O3 (4.5–5.0 eV), a p-type material with a large bandgap is desired. Herein, we report the growth of a Ni1-xMgxO thin film, which has a larger bandgap than NiO, on α-Al2O3 (0001) substrates that was developed using the mist chemical vapor deposition method. The Ni1-xMgxO thin films epitaxially grown on α-Al2O3 substrates showed crystallographic orientation relationships identical to those of NiO thin films. The Mg composition of Ni1-xMgxO was easily controlled by the Mg concentration of the precursor solution. The Ni1-xMgxO thin film with a higher Mg composition had a larger bandgap, and the bandgap reached 3.9 eV with a Ni1-xMgxO thin film with x = 0.28. In contrast to an undoped Ni1-xMgxO thin film showing insulating properties, the Li-doped Ni1-xMgxO thin film had resistivities of 101–105 Ω∙cm depending on the Li precursor concentration, suggesting that Li effectively acts as an acceptor.