New catalytic effect discovered for producing gallium oxide

Semiconducting oxides are a new class of materials that are currently enjoying great attention in the field of semiconductor technology. Gallium oxide is the archetypal example for its ability to handle extremely high voltages and its optical transparency in the deep ultraviolet region, thus promising a generation of electronic components with unprecedented performance. Such components are based on very thin, ultrapure semiconductor layers produced by special deposition methods. Physicists of the Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI) have now drastically increased the yield of gallium oxide with a catalytic effect observed for the first time during crystal growth. This effect is not only a new discovery; it can also be ported to other materials with similar properties to those of gallium oxide. The results appear in Physical Review Letters.