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Unveiling two-dimensional electron systems on ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor $\mathrm{\beta}$-Ga$_2$O$_3$

Materials Science 2025-07-23 v1

Abstract

Ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors promise to revolutionize power electronics, yet a fundamental understanding of their interfacial electronic structure has been hindered by the absence of direct experimental observation. Here, we report the first momentum-resolved observation of two-dimensional electron systems on a UWBG material, enabled by angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) on high-purity β\beta-Ga2_2O3_3 single crystals. Alkaline-metal-induced electron doping forms an isotropic circular Fermi surface, achieving a sheet carrier density of up to 1.0×10141.0\times10^{14} cm2\mathrm{cm}^{-2}. Self-consistent Poisson-Schr\"odinger calculations show that the electrons are confined within 1.2 nm of the surface and reveal an internal electric field of 1818 MV cm1^{-1}. Crucially, our measurements reveal a pronounced renormalization of the electronic band structure: a series of carrier-density-dependent ARPES measurements shows that as the carrier density increases from 2×10132\times10^{13} to 1.0×10141.0\times10^{14} cm2\mathrm{cm}^{-2}, the effective mass anomalously increases, nearly doubling to a final value of 0.48 me\textit{m}_{\mathrm{e}}. This trend is notably opposite to that reported for other oxide semiconductors, pointing towards a unique renormalization mechanism in β\beta-Ga2_2O3_3. Our findings establish the interfacial electronic structure of β\beta-Ga2_2O3_3 and demonstrate that UWBG materials provide fertile ground for exploring carrier-density-driven electronic phenomena, opening new avenues for future quantum and power devices.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.16137,
  title  = {Unveiling two-dimensional electron systems on ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor $\mathrm{\beta}$-Ga$_2$O$_3$},
  author = {Ryu Yukawa and Hiroshi Mizuseki and Suryo Santoso Putro and Yé-Jin L. Lee and Yuuki Masutake and Hinako Telengut and Boxuan Li and Hajime Yamamoto and Tadashi Abukawa and Junya Yoshida and Vladimir V. Kochurikhin and Taketoshi Tomida and Masanori Kitahara and Takahiko Horiai and Akira Yoshikawa and Nobuhiko Sarukura and Noriko Chikumoto and Toshihiko Shimizu and Marilou Cadatal-Raduban and Yoshiyuki Kawazoe and Ryuhei Kohno and Hiroshi Kumigashira and Takuto Nakamura and Tatsuhiko Kanda and Akira Yasui and Miho Kitamura and Hideaki Iwasawa and Koji Horiba and Kenichi Ozawa},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.16137},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

18 pages, 3 figures