Transport and Optical Properties
Understanding and molding the transport of electron, photon, and phonon waves through crystals unleashes their usefulness in electronics, photonics, and thermoelectrics. The study of the transport and scattering of these three types of waves through β-Ga2O3 will serve as sensitive probes of the materials science, chemistry, defects and disorder, and the underlying physics of electron-phonon, electron-photon, and photon-phonon couplings. The GAME MURI team will use complementary experimental techniques, with 1st principles theory and analytical theory and modeling to interrogate the transport of the three types of waves through Ga2O3 crystals and its alloys, and correlate them with defect spectroscopy. The electronic, optical, and thermal conductivity will be explored in the time-domain spanning orders of magnitude from ps to seconds, photon wavelengths ranging from deep UV to infrared, temperatures from cryogenic to ~1000 °C, and subjected to 10s of Tesla of magnetic fields. From this comprehensive exploration, the team will determine the limits of electronic, optical, and thermal conductivity in this material family and its heterostructures, creating the foundation of its usage in electronic, photonic, and thermoelectric applications.
