Control of Band Gap and Band Edge Positions in Gallium–Zinc Oxynitride Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Gallium–zinc oxynitride (GZNO) is a promising material system for solar-driven overall water splitting, as it exhibits a tunable band gap in the visible range, beneficial positions of valence and conduction band edges, and promising long-term stability. Fabrication of GZNO is traditionally accomplished via a solid state reaction pathway. This limits the growth of thin films or large single crystals and the precise control of the composition, which complicates investigations about fundamental properties of the material, including, for example, the influence of the single constituent ratios on the band gap. In this work, we present the growth of GZNO thin films on sapphire by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The thin films exhibit a crystallite size of up to 50 nm and a wurtzite crystal structure with distinct short-range disorder. Variations of Ga/Zn and N/O flux ratios are found to influence the optical absorption edge of the alloy without major impact on the Urbach energy. Controlled change of the composition of the alloy reveals that the band gap reduction is caused by both an increased valence band energy, which is correlated with the N content, and a decrease of the conduction band energy which is induced by increasing Zn content. Based on these findings, GZNO thin films with band gaps of down to 2.0 eV were fabricated and their photoelectrical properties assessed. Using MBE, we overcome compositional restrictions typically associated with stoichiometric GaN:ZnO solid solutions and provide unprecedented access to new compounds within this materials class. In doing so, we elucidate the specific role of individual elements on band edge energetics and demonstrate new routes to band gap engineering for future photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical applications.