Ultrahigh Gain Solar Blind Avalanche Photodetector Using an Amorphous Ga2O3-Based Heterojunction

Solar blind photodetectors with a cutoff wavelength within the 200-280 nm region is attracting much attention due to their potential civilian and military applications. The avalanche photodetectors (APDs) formed based on wide-bandgap semiconductor Ga2O3 are expected to meet emerging technological demands. These devices, however, suffer from limitations associated with the quality of as-grown Ga2O3 or the difficulty in alleviating the defects and dislocations. Herein, high-performance APDs incorporating amorphous Ga2O3 (a-Ga2O3)/ITO heterojunction as the central element have been reliably fabricated at room temperature. The a-Ga2O3-based APDs exhibits an ultrahigh responsivity of 5.9 x 10(4) A/W, specific detectivity of 1.8 x 10(14) Jones, and an external quantum efficiency up to 2.9 x 107% under 254 nm light irradiation at 40 V reverse bias. Notably, the gain could reach 6.8 x 10(4), indicating the outstanding capability for ultraweak signals detection. The comprehensive superior capabilities of the a-Ga2O3-based APDs can be ascribed to the intrinsic carrier transport manners in a-Ga2O3 as well as the modified band alignment at the heterojunctions. The trade-off between low processing temperature and superior characteristics of a-Ga2O3 promises greater design freedom for realization of wide applications of emerging semiconductor Ga2O3 with even better performance since relieving the burden on the integration progress.

Automated summary

High-performance avalanche photodetectors (APDs) based on amorphous Ga2O3 (a-Ga2O3)/ITO heterojunction have been successfully fabricated, showing ultrahigh responsivity, specific detectivity, external quantum efficiency, and exceptional capability for detecting ultraweak signals under 254 nm light irradiation. The superior performance of a-Ga2O3-based APDs can be attributed to intrinsic carrier transport mechanisms in a-Ga2O3 and modified band alignment at the heterojunctions, providing greater design flexibility for wide applications of emerging Ga2O3 semiconductor with improved performance.