The potential use of β-Ga2O3 wafers as transparent conductive substrates for compounds with hexagonal structure, in particular the GaN-system, was shown. Nitridation of the main cleavage plane under high temperature and NH3 gas resulted in the substitution of O by N on the surface, and a simultaneous surface reconstruction. The 2-fold symmetry of the initial (100) plane changes to a 6-fold symmetry, keeping the [010] azimuth as a symmetry direction. The reflection high-energy electron diffraction pattern suggests the formation of GaN on the β-Ga2O3 surface, with the b-axis of β-Ga2O3 parallel to the <11•0> direction of GaN, so that β-Ga2O3 could be used as a substrate with no lattice mismatch to GaN.

Reconstruction of the β-Ga2O3 (100) Cleavage Surface to Hexagonal GaN after NH3 Nitridation. E.G.Víllora, K.Shimamura, K.Aoki, N.Ichinose: Journal of Crystal Growth, 2004, 270[3-4], 462-8