Proton radiation effects on electronic defect states in MOCVD-grown (010) β-Ga₂O₃

The impact of 1.8 MeV proton irradiation on metalorganic chemical vapor deposition grown (010) $β$-Ga₂O₃ Schottky diodes is presented. It is found that after a $10.8×1013cm−2$ proton fluence the Schottky barrier height of (⁠$1.40±0.05$ eV) and the ideality factor of (⁠$1.05±0.05$⁠) are unaffected. Capacitance–voltage extracted net ionized doping curves indicate a carrier removal rate of $268±10cm−1$⁠. The defect states responsible for the observed carrier removal are studied through a combination of deep level transient and optical spectroscopies (DLTS/DLOS) as well as lighted capacitance–voltage (LCV) measurements. The dominating effect on the defect spectrum is due to the E_C-2.0 eV defect state observed in DLOS and LCV. This state accounts for $∼75$% of the total trap introduction rate and is the primary source of carrier removal from proton irradiation. Of the DLTS detected states, the E_C-0.72 eV state dominated but had a comparably smaller contribution to the trap introduction. These two traps have previously been correlated with acceptor-like gallium vacancy-related defects. Several other trap states at E$C$-0.36, E$C$-0.63, and E$C$-1.09 eV were newly detected after proton irradiation, and two pre-existing states at E$C$-1.2 and E$C$-4.4 eV showed a slight increase in concentration after irradiation, together accounting for the remainder of trap introduction. However, a pre-existing trap at E_C-0.40 eV was found to be insensitive to proton irradiation and, therefore, is likely of extrinsic origin. The comprehensive defect characterization of 1.8 MeV proton irradiation damage can aid the modeling and design for a range of radiation tolerant devices.