Compensation and hydrogen passivation of magnesium acceptors in β-Ga2O3

Magnesium-doped gallium oxide may be utilized as a semi-insulating material for future generations of power devices. Spectroscopy and hybrid functional calculations were used to investigate defect levels in Czochralski-grown β-Ga2O3. Substitutional Mg dopants act as deep acceptors, while substitutional Ir impurities are deep donors. Hydrogen-annealed Ga2O3:Mg shows an IR peak at 3492 cm−1, assigned to an O-H bond-stretching mode of a neutral MgH complex. Despite compensation by Ir and Si and hydrogen passivation, high concentrations of Mg (1019 cm−3) can push the Fermi level to mid-gap or lower.