INT. SCHOOL AND SEMINAR INTERNANO’2009, SESSION I, OCT.

28-31, NSTU, NOVOSIBIRSK, RUSSIA 27

The Influence of Deformation on

Conductivity of Ga2O3–In2O3Thin Films
Alexander G. Kozlov, Ekaterina A. Kurdyukova
Rzhanov Institute of semiconductor physics, SB RAS, Omsk Branch,
Omsk, Russia

Abstract – Thin films of Ga2O3-In2O3 are obtained by ty of polycrystalline oxide semiconductor materials
magnetron deposition with further thermal oxidation. Metal films of Ga-In were obtained at the first stage
Dependences of resistance variation on time under of study by magnetron deposition. Eutectic composi-
strain and on strain value are observed. The model for tion of 24% In and 76% Ga was used as a target. The
explaining the obtained results is developed. It is based
on the barrier conductivity of polycrystalline oxide
process of deposition was conducted in argon at-
semiconductor materials. mosphere under the pressure of 0.27 Pa. The tem-
perature of glassceramic substrate was 150C. Thick-
Index Terms - Ga2O3-In2O3, elastic stresses, and con- ness of the substrate amounted to 500 μm. Obtained
ductivity. metal films were oxidized at 600, 700, 800 and 900
°C during 30, 60 and 90 minutes. As a result of
I. INTRODUCTION thermal oxidation, thin Ga2O3-In2O3 films 150 nm
thick were formed. The main component of these
P OLYCRISTALLINE OXIDE SEMICONDUC-
TOR materials are perspective for making gas
sensors due to their high sensitivity to different gas-
thin films was gallium (its weight fraction was
76%).
The strain effect on the conductivity of crystal-
es [1]. Generally these sensors have microelectronic line oxide semiconductor materials was analyzed
architecture in which sensitive layer is comprised of with the help of the device which scheme is shown
thin or thick films. This makes it possible to minim- in Fig. 1. Strain in Ga2O3-In2O3 was changed by
ize sensors dimensions, improve their sensitivity and means of varying the thickness of pedestal 1 (Fig. 1).
decrease power consumption. Resistance variation of Ga2O3-In2O3 film as a
It is known that the selectivity and sensitivity of function of strain is shown in Fig. 2.
semiconductor sensors depends on many parameters The resistance of Ga2O3-In2O3 film under strain
such as crystalline structure of oxide semiconductor, ( H 0.09 ) as a function of time is shown in Fig. 3.
contact geometry, operating temperature, operating
Time constant of resistance variation for the Ga2O3-
conditions, etc [2]. That is why it is rather hard to
In2O3 film under strain is evaluated in correspon-
identify sensor signals obtained in practice. One has
dence with this dependence. The magnitude of time
constant W is 2739 seconds. The calculated time de-
to take into account as many parameters of oxide
materials as possible. This will result in increasing
pendence of film resistance under strain (with the
the precision of gas analysis and choosing optimal
time constant given) is shown in Fig. 3.
operation conditions for sensor-based system.
Mechanical stress in polycrystalline oxide films
is one of the parameters affecting the characteristics
of gas sensors. They can appear both during obtain-
ing material and during sensor operation. High strain
sensitivity of resistance in polycrystalline oxide
films is mentioned in many papers [3-5]. Thereby
investigation of processes occurring in such films
under the application of strain is an actual problem.
This paper presents experimental results con-
cerning strain effect on the resistance of Ga2O3-
In2O3 thin films. The model for interpreting the ob-
tained results is developed.

II. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS Fig. 1. The scheme of the device for investigating the strain effect
on the conductivity of polycrystalline oxide semiconductor films:
Thin films of Ga2O3-In2O3 were used during the 1 – pedestal, 2 – substrate, 4 – thin Ga2O3-In2O3 film, 4- heater, 5
experimental study of strain effect on the conductivi- – thermocouple, 6 – contacts.

978-1-4244-4572-1/09/$25.00 © IEEE
28 INT. SCHOOL AND SEMINAR INTERNANO’2009, SESSION I, OCT. 28-31, NSTU, NOVOSIBIRSK, RUSSIA

where C r , t  - concentration of oxygen vacancies

in crystallite; C0 - concentration of oxygen vacan-
cies at the surface of crystallite; R – crystallite ra-
dius; r - distance from the centre of crystallite; D
– diffusion coefficient for oxygen vacancies; t –
time. During the contact time (that is equal to the
time constant) the concentration of oxygen vacan-
cies in the centre of crystallite under the tensile
strain corresponds to 0.63 C0, i. e.
Fig. 2. Experimental dependence of resistance variation of Ga2O3-
In2O3 film on strain.
Fig. 3. Time dependence of Ga2O3-In2O3 film resistance under the
strain of 0.027.
C r , t  r 0 0.63 C 0 .
This condition holds true when the relation has the
following value:
Dt
0.173 . (1)
R2
With a knowledge of time constant and crystal-
lite radius it is possible to find a diffusion coefficient
for oxygen vacancies. The value of crystallite radius
was chosen as a mean value. It was defined from
AFM study of thin Ga2O3-In2O3 films. Its value was
approximately equal to 60 nm. In this case the calcu-
lated value of diffusion coefficient for oxygen va-
cancies is 2.25·10-15 cm2/s. This value is close to the
diffusion coefficient for oxygen vacancies in SnO2
obtained experimentally in [7]. Thus, this fact indi-
rectly confirms the effect of oxygen vacancies on
piezoresistance of thin Ga2O3-In2O3 films.
III. RESULTS ANS DISCUSSIONS
The model [8] based on barrier conductivity of
polycrystalline oxide semiconductor materials was
suggested to explain experimental results obtained.
This model is characterized by the following system
of equations:
­ b

°1  T k n  a §¨ O2 ·¸
p 2
Large value of time constant and strain gauge
ads S ¨ ¸ k desT
factor can be explained by the strain influence on the ° © kTa ¹
concentration of oxygen vacancies in polycrystalline °
oxide semiconductor materials. °° q 2 a 2T 2 S t 2
The estimation of diffusion coefficient for oxy- ® ES (2)
gen vacancies in thin Ga2O3-In2O3 film was carried ° 2HH 0 nb
out to confirm this assumption; the obtained value of ° § E ·
time constant was used for the estimation. The mod- ° n S nb exp¨  S ¸
el suggested in [6] was used to estimate diffusion ° © kT ¹
coefficient for oxygen vacancies. According to this °¯
model the process of saturating of crystallite with
oxygen vacancies can be expressed in the following where T
> @
O ɜ1ɛS1
- fill factor of surface adsorption
way: St
f
  1n R § nS r · ɛ
C r , t  2C 0 ¦ sin ¨ ¸˜
centers with oxygen; O ɜ1S1 - concentration of che-
n 1 nS r © R ¹ misorbed oxygen ( D1 =1- for once ionized form;
ª § n S 2 Dt ·º
2
D1 =2 - for twice ionized form; E1 =1 - for atomic
˜ «1  exp¨¨ ¸»
¸
«¬ © R
2
¹ »¼ structure; E1 =2- for molecular structure); q - elec-
KOZLOV and KURDYUKOVA: THE INFLUENCE OF DEFORMATION…
tron charge; St - total concentration of present sur-
face centers for oxygen adsorption (both occupied
and free); k ads and k des - reaction constant of ad-
sorption and desorption correspondingly; nS - elec-
tron concentration at the near-surface depletion
layer; pO2 - oxygen pressure in gas phase; Ta -
ambient temperature; E S - height of energy barrier
between crystallites; nb - volume concentration of
charge carriers; H - dielectric permittivity of ma-
terial; H 0 - electric constant.
Material conductivity is defined by concentration
and mobility of charge carriers. The concentration of
charge carriers (electrons) in n-type oxide semicon-
ductor is defined by a concentration of oxygen va-
cancies that appears to be donor centers. It is consi-
dered that one charge carrier corresponds to one
oxygen vacancy, i. e. nb N V .
It is suggested that the energy of vacancies for-
mation depends on mechanical stresses in crystallite.
This is necessary to allow for the influence of me-
chanical stresses on the conductivity. Tin oxide was
used for evaluation since this material is the most
accepted polycrystalline oxide semiconductor ma-
terial. The expression for evaluating the concentra-
tion of oxygen vacancies was obtained within this
model. This expression allows for elastic stresses
that appear when obtaining the film. The expression
has the following form:
§ G ·
NV N ˜ exp¨  0 ¸ ˜
© kT ¹
§
29
are taken from the solution of system (2) and the eq-
uation (3) correspondingly.
The simulation showed that strain influence is
high when crystallites are small and this influence
strongly decreases when increasing crystallite di-
mensions. Concentration of vacancies in crystallites
decreases due to the strain. It results in decreasing
the number of charge carriers both in volume and
surficial region. The fill factor of surface adsorption
centers with oxygen increases with the decrease of
crystallite radius. Its value is two times higher than
the value obtained without regard to the strain effect.
Energy barrier height increases with the decrease of
crystallite dimensions, the thickness of depletion
layer being increased, too. The conductivity of poly-
crystalline oxide materials as a function of crystallite
radius is shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4 shows that the conductivity is lower if ten-
sile strain is taken into account (compared to the
conductivity without regard to the strain). This fact
is qualitatively confirmed by observed dependence
of resistance on the tensile strain. This dependence is
demonstrated in the Fig. 2.
>   @ · (3)
1
¨ Vv 45 E 1  ɦ2 2ɛ  un sv  2 ¸
exp¨ ¸
¨ 31  2 ɦkT R01 2 ¸
© ¹
where N – concentration of oxygen atoms in SnO2;
G0 - energy of vacancies formation (ignoring
stresses); Vv - activation volume of vacancy; k -
Boltzmann constant; T - temperature; R0 - crystal-
lite radius; E -Young modulus, P - Poisson ration;
D - surface stress factor; u - the variation of free
energy due to the formation of one Sn-O-Sn bond;
nsv - concentration of Sn-O groups at the surface of
particle.
In terms of the barrier model the conductivity of
polycrystalline oxide material equals:
§ q 2 nb P b · nb E S § E ·
V 'S ˜ ¨¨ ¸˜
¸ ˜ exp¨  S ¸ , (4)
© kT ¹ 2HH 0 © kT ¹
where Pb – charge carrier mobility; 'S - area of
contact connection between crystallites; Values of
Fig. 4. The conductivity as a function of crystallite radius (with
and without regarding tensile strain).
IV. CONCLUSIONS
Dependences of resistance variation for Ga2O3-
In2O3 films on time under strain and on tensile strain
were experimentally obtained in the submitted pa-
per. The model of conductivity for polycrystalline
oxide semiconductor materials is suggested, strain is
taken into account. The role of oxygen vacancies in
changing the conductivity of polycrystalline oxide
semiconductor materials under strain is qualitatively
confirmed.
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