A facile route to synthesize β‐Ga2O3 nanoparticles from γ‐polymorph through a rapid microwave route and their optical properties

Abstract

Due to the wide bandgap, monoclinic structure and thermodynamic stability, β‐polymorph form of Ga2O3 nanomaterials is well‐received for various applications. However, as the γ‐Ga2O3 is difficult to synthesize, less attention has been paid towards it and its conversion to β‐polymorph. This paper reports the single‐step synthesis of γ‐Ga2O3 using a microwave‐assisted procedure. In this regard, γ‐Ga2O3 powders are synthesized in minutes using benzyl alcohol as the solvent using gallium acetylacetone as the precursor. The XRD of the as‐prepared powders indicates the formation of the γ‐Ga2O3 phase, the very broad peaks indicative of the small crystallite size as confirmed by TEM. The γ‐Ga2O3 powders were annealed at different temperatures and the complete phase conversion of γ‐Ga2O3 phase to β‐Ga2O3 phase happens at 700 °C. The TEM analysis shows the crystallite size to be ≈10 nm for the annealed β‐Ga2O3 phase. The as‐prepared nanopowders show very weak luminescence under excitation and in contrast, a blue‐green emission is observed in case of annealed powders. This confirms the presented strategy as having the potential to use β‐Ga2O3 nanopowders for different optoelectronic applications.