First‐Principles Study of the Influences of Point Vacancies (VGa, Hi) on the Photocatalytic and Magnetic Performance of Ga2O3:Li/Na/K Systems

Abstract

Under vacuum environment, an H interstitial must exist when Ga2O3 is prepared by organometallic chemical vapor deposition. However, few first‐principles systematic studies have been conducted on the influences of point vacancies (VGa, Hi) on the photocatalytic performance and magnetism of Ga2O3:(Li or Na or K) systems, and VGa is a challenge in experiments. Therefore, the first‐principles generalized gradient approximation GGA + U theory is adopted in this study. A first‐principles study is conducted on the formation energy (E f), photocatalytic performance, and magnetism of Ga30MO48 (M = Li or Na or K) and Ga30MHiO48 systems. In the results, it is shown that under Ga‐poor conditions, the Ga30MO48 and Ga30MHiO48 systems are structurally stable and prone to doping. The Ga30MHiO48 system has lower E f, more structural stability, and easier doping than the Ga30MO48 system. The Ga30KO48 system exhibits magnetism, mainly generated by the O1−‐2p spin‐polarized wandering electrons near VGa. The spin‐polarized O2−‐2p and Ga‐4s states near VGa contribute to the hybrid coupling double‐exchange interaction. Moreover, the visible spectrum of the Ga30LiHiO48 system exhibits a significant redshift, a relatively high carrier activity, carrier separation, and relative maximum lifetime. It is relatively best as a photocatalyst.