Gallium Oxide:
A Promising Ultra-Wide Bandgap Material for Next-Generation Power Electronics
(PresseBox) - Gallium oxide (Ga?O?) — especially in its most stable ? phase — is attracting strong interest as an ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor with the potential to redefine power electronics beyond the limits of silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN).
With a bandgap energy of about 4.7–4.9 eV, significantly wider than typical wide bandgap materials (~3.3–3.4 eV), Ga?O? enables higher breakdown fields and superior power device performance that are crucial for efficient, high-voltage switching applications such as electric vehicles, renewable energy converters, and industrial power supplies.
A key metric in power electronics is Baliga’s figure of merit (BFOM), which relates breakdown field to charge carrier mobility and directly reflects how effectively a semiconductor minimizes conduction losses at high voltages. For ?-Ga?O?, BFOM values are projected to greatly exceed those of SiC and GaN, making Ga?O? a compelling candidate for high-voltage (>1 kV) devices. However, Ga?O? also exhibits lower thermal conductivity than SiC and GaN, which poses challenges for thermal management in high-power devices — a focus of ongoing research.
A distinct advantage of Ga?O? lies in its substrate growth scalability. Unlike SiC or GaN, ?-Ga?O? single crystals can be produced by relatively low-cost melt growth methods, compatible with large wafer sizes, thus promising lower substrate costs and simpler manufacturing pathways. This scalability amplifies Ga?O?’s appeal for commercial adoption if high-performance device structures can be reliably realized.
To harness these material advantages, researchers are developing thin-film Ga?O? growth methods tailored for device fabrication. While vapor-phase epitaxial techniques such as metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) dominate high-crystal-quality growth, physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods like sputtering and pulsed laser deposition (PLD) are gaining attention for their flexibility, lower equipment cost, and compatibility with large-area substrates.
PVD techniques work by vaporizing a solid source material (such as a Ga?O? target) in a vacuum and condensing it onto a substrate. For oxide materials, pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is a common variant in which a high-energy laser ablates material from a target, producing a plume that deposits as a thin film on a heated substrate. Similarly, magnetron sputtering — another PVD approach — uses ionized gas to eject atoms from a target toward a substrate. These methods allow precise control over film thickness, composition, and microstructure, essential for optimizing electronic properties.
Studies have shown that by adjusting PVD parameters and post-deposition annealing, Ga?O? films with improved crystallinity and tailored defect densities can be achieved, which are critical for device performance and reliability. PVD’s lower thermal budget compared to some chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes also enables growth on substrates that may not tolerate high temperatures, broadening the integration options for Ga?O? in multi-material device stacks.
Moreover, PVD methods are inherently compatible with standard semiconductor fabrication infrastructure, facilitating potential integration into commercial production lines and reducing overall manufacturing costs once optimized at scale.
In summary, Ga?O? stands out as an ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor with the right combination of electronic properties and substrate scalability to drive next-generation power electronics. Coupled with advances in PVD thin-film growth techniques that promise more cost-efficient, scalable production, Ga?O? could significantly lower device costs and enhance performance — pushing power electronics into new realms of efficiency and capability.
As a technology pioneer in PVD technologies and a provider of thin-film deposition equipment, VON ARDENNE is working on advancing ultra-wide bandgap material development.
Author: Guido Ueberreiter, VP Semiconductor Strategy, VON ARDENNE
VON ARDENNE develops and manufactures systems for the industrial vacuum coating of materials such as glass, wafers, metal strip or polymer films. Our customers use these materials to manufacture high-quality products such as solar cells, architectural glass, fuel cells, semiconductors or microelectronic components for sensors and optics.
With more than 60 years of experience in electron beam technology and over 50 years of experience in magnetron sputtering, VON ARDENNE is a pioneer and world-leading supplier of equipment and technologies in PVD thin-film and vacuum process technology.
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
VON ARDENNE develops and manufactures systems for the industrial vacuum coating of materials such as glass, wafers, metal strip or polymer films. Our customers use these materials to manufacture high-quality products such as solar cells, architectural glass, fuel cells, semiconductors or microelectronic components for sensors and optics.
With more than 60 years of experience in electron beam technology and over 50 years of experience in magnetron sputtering, VON ARDENNE is a pioneer and world-leading supplier of equipment and technologies in PVD thin-film and vacuum process technology.
Datum: 01.04.2026 - 16:01 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 734640
Anzahl Zeichen: 5001
contact information:
Contact person: Falk Iser
Town:
Dresden
Phone: +49 351 2637-300
Kategorie:
Tradeshows
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 74 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"Gallium Oxide:"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
VON ARDENNE GmbH (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
