Semiconductor Science and Technology, volume 39, issue 7, pages 73001

Recent advances and prospects for GaN-based hybrid type ultraviolet photodetector

Jiaxin Zhang
, 
Liqiong Deng
, 
Shihong Xia
, 
Chenyu Guo
, 
Kunzi Liu
, 
Li Chen
, 
Wei Liu
, 
Hui Xiao
, 
Pingqi Gao
, 
Wei Guo
, 
Xi Yang
Show full list: 11 authors
Publication type: Journal Article
Publication date: 2024-06-20
scimago Q2
SJR: 0.411
CiteScore: 4.3
Impact factor: 1.9
ISSN: 02681242, 13616641
Abstract

Solid-state ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors (PDs) have received significant attention due to their advantages of small size, absence of external cooling, high selectivity and the ability to utilize the energy band structure semiconductor materials to achieve detection across various wavelengths. III-nitride thin films, as typical wide bandgap semiconductors with mature n-type and p-type doping capabilities, are ideal candidates for solid-state UV-PDs. However, a combination of III-nitride and other wide bandgap materials can either enrich the functionality of devices such as spectrum-selective and broadband UV detectionor offer opportunities to enhance device performance, including high photoresponsivity, high external quantum efficiency, low dark current and fast response time. This topical review focuses on giving a thorough review of the III-nitride-based hybrid-type UV PDs, their recent progress and future prospects. We highlight the different optical and electrical properties of various materials including GaN, Ga2O3, ZnO, perovskite, etc. By carefully choosing the materials on both sides of the heterojunction and modulating the thickness and Fermi levels and corresponding layers, p–i–n, Schottky or metal–semiconductor–metal-type PDs were successfully fabricated. They displayed outstanding device performance and novel spectral-selective properties. The advantages for future development of these hybrid-type PDs will be discussed, such as inherently formed p–n junction with large depletion regions at the interface of two different materials and capability of bandgap engineering to tune the band offset between the conduction and valence bands, thus enabling large barrier height for one type of carrier without influencing the other. The drawbacks of hybrid-type UV-PD due to poor interface quality and challenges in forming electrical contact in nanostructured hybrid UV-PD will also be discussed.

Found 201
By date By citations
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Quasi-van der Waals Epitaxy of a Stress-Released AlN Film on Thermally Annealed Hexagonal BN for Deep Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes
Wang L., Yang S., Gao Y., Yang J., Duo Y., Song S., Yan J., Wang J., Li J., Wei T.
ACS applied materials & interfaces scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2023-05-03,  citations by CoLab: 9 , 
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Fluorine Plasma Treatment for AlGaN/GaN HEMT-Based Ultraviolet Photodetector With High Responsivity and High Detectivity
Zhou K., Shan L., Zhang Y., Lu D., Ma Y., Chen X., Luo L., Wu C.
IEEE Electron Device Letters scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2023-05-01,  citations by CoLab: 9 , 
Japan Society of Applied Physics
The incorporation of AlScN ferroelectric gate dielectric in AlGaN/GaN-HEMT with polarization-modulated threshold voltage
Zhao Z., Dai Y., Meng F., Chen L., Liu K., Luo T., Yu Z., Wang Q., Yang Z., Zhang J., Guo W., Wu L., Ye J.
Applied Physics Express scimago Q2 wos Q3 Open Access , 
2023-03-01,  citations by CoLab: 18 ,  Abstract  
Abstract In this work, the insertion of AlScN ferroelectric gate dielectric on the performance of the AlGaN/GaN HEMT device is investigated. With negative pre-poling on AlScN, the threshold voltage (V th) of the device shifts positively with a swing range of 3.26 V. The influence of polarization modulation is also reflected by the suppression of gate leakage and the reduction of the subthreshold swing of the device. The AlScN-integrated GaN HEMT exhibits an on/off ratio of 106 and a subthreshold swing of 80 mV dec−1. The depletion mechanism of 2DEG at the AlGaN/GaN interface was well described by a TCAD model.
Elsevier
High performance foreign-dopant-free ZnO/Al Ga N ultraviolet phototransistors using atomic-layer-deposited ZnO emitter layer
Wen Q., Lv Z., Lai S., Li L., Jiang H.
Journal of Alloys and Compounds scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2023-03-01,  citations by CoLab: 8 ,  Abstract  
High-performance foreign-dopant-free ZnO/AlxGa1−xN heterojunction ultraviolet (UV) phototransistors were fabricated and characterized. The ZnO layer with high electron concentration was grown as emitter by atomic layer deposition, while the AlxGa1−xN/GaN heterostructure was epitaxied as base and collector by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. A linearly upgraded/downgraded AlxGa1−xN layer was used as polarization-induced n/p type layer without dopant. The prominent feature of the resulting n+-p-n ZnO/AlxGa1−xN phototransistors is a three-stage rising spectral response matching the biological action spectrum of solar UV radiation. Moreover, the phototransistors demonstrate a low dark current of less than 1 pA at 2 V, a maximum responsivity of ∼8.7 A/W at 5 V and 300 nm, a normalized detectivity of ∼1 × 1013 Jones, and a high response speed with a rise/fall time of 3.5 μs/450 μs. This work shows a feasible and simple-process approach for developing high-performance multiband spectral response photodetectors based on different wide band gap material systems.
Elsevier
Two-dimensional hole gas formation at the κ-Ga2O3 /AlN heterojunction interface
Polyakov A.Y., Nikolaev V.I., Pechnikov A.I., Yakimov E.B., Karpov S.Y., Stepanov S.I., Shchemerov I.V., Vasilev A.A., Chernykh A.V., Kuznetsov A., Lee I., Pearton S.J.
Journal of Alloys and Compounds scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2023-03-01,  citations by CoLab: 14 ,  Abstract  
Typically, semiconducting oxides and nitrides exhibit strong conductivity type asymmetries. In this work, we observed and interpreted the emergence of p-type conductivity at the κ-Ga2O3/AlN interface. Films of lightly Sn-doped -Ga2O3 were deposited by Halide Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE) on AlN/Si templates. Capacitance-voltage (C-V), current-voltage (I-V) measurements on Ni Schottky diodes and Ti/Au Ohmic contacts deposited on the layer surface unexpectedly showed p-type-like behavior, while Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) images collected with different beam energies suggest that the EBIC collection occurs near the Ga2O3/AlN interface, which also implies the formation of a p-type layer at this interface. We modelled this effect, taking into account the difference in spontaneous electrical polarization of κ-Ga2O3 and AlN and this indicated a layer of two-dimensional holes can form at this interface. The possibility to detect this layer depends on the balance between the doping level and the thickness of the κ-Ga2O3.
AIP Publishing
2D MXene/ 1D GaN van der Waals heterojunction for self-powered UV photodetector
Thota C., Murali G., Dhanalakshmi R., Reddeppa M., Bak N.-., Nagaraju G., Kim S.-., Modigunta J.K., Park Y.H., In I., Kim M.-.
Applied Physics Letters scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2023-01-16,  citations by CoLab: 32 ,  Abstract  
MXene's two-dimensional (2D) morphology, metallic electrical conductivity, and optical transparency characteristics have been widely utilized to uplift the performance of diverse optoelectronic devices. In this study, we demonstrate a simple spin-coating of 2D MXene nanosheets on 1D GaN nanorods (NRs) to establish a van der Waals (vdW) Schottky junction, which is efficient to detect UV radiation (λ = 382 nm) without requiring the external power supply. The built-in electric field developed through vdW Schottky junction formation stimulates the separation of electron–hole pairs and thereby facilitates the MXene/GaN NRs device to exhibit better UV detection performance than the pristine GaN NRs device. The performance of both pristine GaN and MXene/GaN NRs devices is compared by tuning the UV radiation power density in the range of 0.33–1.35 mW/cm2. Notably, the self-powered MXene/GaN NRs photodetector demonstrated the characteristics of high photoresponsivity (48.6 mA/W), detectivity (5.9 [Formula: see text] 1012 Jones), and external quantum efficiency (543%). These characteristics signify the suitability of MXene/GaN self-powered photodetectors for various applications, including imaging, sensing networks, and energy-saving communication.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Synergetic Effect of Photoconductive Gain and Persistent Photocurrent in a High-Photoresponse Ga2O3 Deep-Ultraviolet Photodetector
Liu Z., Du L., Zhang S., Li L., Xi Z., Tang J., Fang J., Zhang M., Yang L., Li S., Li P., Guo Y., Tang W.
IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2022-10-01,  citations by CoLab: 37 ,  Abstract  
In this work, a metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) $\beta $ -gallium oxide (Ga2O3) photodetector (PD) was constructed by microprocessing techniques, including UV photolithography, liftoff, and ion beam sputtering. The $\beta $ -Ga2O3 thin film was deposited on a sapphire substrate by a metalorganic chemical vapor deposition method. In addition to the high-quality thin film, the PD showed a photo-to-dark current ratio of $3.5\,\,{\times }\,\,10$ 7, a photoresponsivity of 509.78 A/W, a specific detectivity of $8.79\,\,{\times }\,\,10$ 14 Jones, an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of $2.5\,\,{\times }\,\,10$ 5%, and a linear dynamic range of 94.41 dB at 10 V with 254-nm UV light illumination. The PD photoconductive gain decreases with the incident light intensity and reaches up to 2490 under $2000 ~\mu \text{W}$ cm−2. Such high photoconductive gain due to recycling transport in the active layer may lead to persistent photocurrent. Together with high photoresponsivity and EQE, the substantial internal gain may well exist in the $\beta $ -Ga2O3 PD, suggesting a high deep-ultraviolet photoresponse for the $\beta $ -Ga2O3 MSM photodetector in this article.
Optica Publishing Group
Si-substrate vertical-structure InGaN/GaN micro-LED-based photodetector for beyond 10  Gbps visible light communication
Shi J., Xu Z., Niu W., Li D., Wu X., Li Z., Zhang J., Shen C., Wang G., Wang X., Zhang J., Jiang F., Yu S., Chi N.
Photonics Research scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2022-09-30,  citations by CoLab: 36 ,  Abstract  
Visible light communication (VLC) has emerged as a promising communication method in 6G. However, the development of receiving devices is much slower than that of transmitting devices, limited by materials, structures, and fabrication. In this paper, we propose and fabricate an InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well-based vertical-structure micro-LED-based photodetector (μPD) on a Si substrate. A comprehensive comparison of the photoelectrical performance and communication performance of three sizes of μPDs, 10, 50, and 100 μm, is presented. The peak responsivity of all three μPDs is achieved at 400 nm, while the passband full-widths at half maxima are 87, 72, and 78 nm for 10, 50, and 100 μm μPDs, respectively. The −20  dB cutoff bandwidth is up to 822 MHz for 50 μm μPD. A data rate of 10.14 Gbps is experimentally demonstrated by bit and power loading discrete multitone modulation and the proposed digital pre-equalizer algorithm over 1 m free space utilizing the self-designed 4×4 50 μm μPD array as a receiver and a 450 nm laser diode as a transmitter. This is the first time a more than 10 Gbps VLC system has been achieved utilizing a GaN-based micro-PD, to the best of our knowledge. The investigation fully demonstrates the superiority of Si substrates and vertical structures in InGaN/GaN μPDs and shows its great potential for high-speed VLC links beyond 10 Gbps.
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Integration of H2V3O8 nanowires and a GaN thin film for self-powered UV photodetectors
Dou Y., Liang Y., Li H., Xue Y., Ye H., Han Y.
Chemical Communications scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2022-07-11,  citations by CoLab: 3 ,  Abstract  
H2V3O8/GaN n-n heterojunction ultraviolet photodetectors are fabricated via a facile dip-coating method. The Schottky junction between the GaN and H2V3O8 builds a built-in electric field to achieve the self-powered phenomenon. The photodetector presents a high photocurrent (0.23 μA) and a fast response speed (less than 0.3 s) at 0 V bias and under 365 nm light illumination (24.50 mW cm-2). Furthermore, the photocurrent increases steadily as the light intensity increases from 0.53 to 24.50 mW cm-2. The H2V3O8/GaN heterojunction holds great potential to realize high-performance hybrid PDs.
American Chemical Society (ACS)
High-Responsivity and Fast-Response Ultraviolet Phototransistors Based on Enhanced p-GaN/AlGaN/GaN HEMTs
Wang H., You H., Xu Y., Sun X., Wang Y., Pan D., Ye J., Liu B., Chen D., Lu H., Zhang R., Zheng Y.
ACS Photonics scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2022-05-26,  citations by CoLab: 27 , 
American Chemical Society (ACS)
In Situ Fabrication of PdSe2/GaN Schottky Junction for Polarization-Sensitive Ultraviolet Photodetection with High Dichroic Ratio
Wu D., Xu M., Zeng L., Shi Z., Tian Y., Li X.J., Shan C., Jie J.
ACS Nano scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2022-03-24,  citations by CoLab: 243 ,  Abstract  
Polarization-sensitive ultraviolet (UV) photodetection is of great technological importance for both civilian and military applications. Two-dimensional (2D) group-10 transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), especially palladium diselenide (PdSe2), are promising candidates for polarized photodetection due to their low-symmetric crystal structure. However, the lack of an efficient heterostructure severely restricts their applications in UV-polarized photodetection. Here, we develop a PdSe2/GaN Schottky junction by in situ van der Waals growth for highly polarization-sensitive UV photodetection. Owing to the high-quality junction, the device exhibits an appealing UV detection performance in terms of a large responsivity of 249.9 mA/W, a high specific detectivity, and a fast response speed. More importantly, thanks to the puckered structure of the PdSe2 layer, the device is highly sensitive to polarized UV light with a large dichroic ratio up to 4.5, which is among the highest for 2D TMD material-based UV polarization-sensitive photodetectors. These findings further enable the demonstration of the outstanding polarized UV imaging capability of the Schottky junction, as well as its utility as an optical receiver for secure UV optical communication. Our work offers a strategy to fabricate the PdSe2-based heterostructure for high-performance polarization-sensitive UV photodetection.
Optica Publishing Group
Hybrid metal/Ga2O3/GaN ultraviolet detector for obtaining low dark current and high responsivity
Huang G., Chu C., Guo L., Liu Z., Jiang K., Zhang Y., Sun X., Zhang Z., Li D.
Optics Letters scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2022-03-15,  citations by CoLab: 8 ,  Abstract  
In this work, we have proposed and fabricated a metal/Ga2O3/GaN hybrid structure metal-semiconductor-metal ultraviolet photodetector with low dark current and high responsivity. The Schottky contact of Ni/Ga2O3 makes the Ga2O3 layer fully depleted. The strong electric field in the Ga2O3 depletion region can push the photo-induced electrons from the Ga2O3 layer into the GaN layer for more efficient carrier transport. Therefore, the hybrid structure simultaneously utilizes the advantage of the absorption to solar-blind ultraviolet light by the Ga2O3 layer and the high electron mobility of the GaN layer. Thus, the dark current and the photocurrent for the proposed device can be greatly improved. As a result, an extremely high photo-to-dark-current ratio of 1.46 × 106 can be achieved. Furthermore, quick rise and fall times of 0.213 s and 0.027 s at the applied bias of 6 V are also obtained, respectively.
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Li-Doped ZnO Electron Transport Layer for Improved Performance and Photostability of Organic Solar Cells
Wang J., Pan H., Xu X., Jin H., Ma W., Xiong S., Bao Q., Tang Z., Ma Z.
ACS applied materials & interfaces scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2022-03-02,  citations by CoLab: 27 ,  Abstract  
Organic solar cells (OSCs) based on an inverted architecture generally have better stability compared to those based on a standard architecture. However, the photoactive area of the inverted solar cells increases under ultraviolet (UV) or solar illuminatiom because of the too-high conductivity of the UV-illuminated zinc oxide (ZnO) interlayer. This limits the potential of the inverted solar cells for industrial applications. Herein, lithium-doped ZnO (Li-ZnO) films are employed as the cathode interlayer to construct inverted OSCs. The incorporation of Li ions is found to reduce the lateral conductivity of the UV-treated ZnO films because of the presence of Li ions, preventing the high-quality-growth of ZnO nanocrystals. This addresses the problem of having too-high conductivity in the UV-treated ZnO layer, causing the increased photoactive area of inverted solar cells. The overall performance of the solar cell is shown to be higher after the incorporation of Li ions in the ZnO layer, mainly due to the increased fill factor (FF), originating from the reduced trap-assisted recombination losses. Finally, the inverted solar cells based on the Li-ZnO interlayer are demonstrated to have a much better long-term stability, as compared to those based on ZnO. This allows the ZnO-based interlayers to be used for the mass production of organic solar cell modules.
Cambridge University Press
Double Schottky metal–semiconductor–metal based GaN photodetectors with improved response using laser MBE technique
Yadav G., Gupta V., Tomar M.
Journal of Materials Research scimago Q2 wos Q3 , 
2022-01-20,  citations by CoLab: 18 ,  Abstract  
Present work demonstrates the fabrication of Gallium nitride (GaN) based ultraviolet metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) photodetectors on Si(111) substrate using the Laser MBE technique. MSM photodetectors based on Au, Pd and ITO contacts were fabricated to study the effect of electrodes on the observed UV photoresponse. Temporal response of the fabricated photo-detectors at a regular interval of 20 s ON–OFF cycle revealed that ITO is the best-suited electrode material for the fabrication of photo-detectors with high detectivity, sensitivity and low dark current. The ITO/GaN/ITO double Schottky photodetector showed the maximum responsivity of 0.27 A/W at an applied bias of 1 V towards 325 nm wavelength radiation. The value of detectivity, dark current and the ratio of normalized photocurrent to dark current for ITO/GaN/ITO was found to be 1.73 × 1013 Jones, 0.24 pA and 0.8 × 104, which is significantly enhanced as compared to the corresponding values reported by other research groups for MSM photodetectors.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Surface Modification of AlGaN Solar-Blind Ultraviolet MSM Photodetectors With Octadecanethiol
Yang G., Li Y., Liu Y., Xie F., Gu Y., Yang X., Wei C., Bian B., Zhang X., Lu N.
IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2022-01-01,  citations by CoLab: 14 ,  Abstract  
We successfully fabricate the AlGaN solar-blind ultraviolet metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors (PDs) with high Al composition of 0.6, and an effective method by modifying organic molecules of Octadecanethiol (ODT) on Al 0.6 Ga 0.4 N surface is proposed to enhance the optoelectronic performance of the MSM PDs. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements demonstrate that the ODT organic molecules are chemically adsorbed on the surface of the AlGaN active layer successfully. The Al 0.6 Ga 0.4 N MSM PD modified with ODT exhibits a cutoff wavelength of ~250 nm, and the dark current is reduced compared to the referential PD without ODT modification, indicating the decreased surface state density due to suppressible oxidation of AlGaN surface by using ODT modification. Moreover, the ODT-modified AlGaN PD shows a high peak responsivity of 2.75 A/W at 10 V, which is enhanced by ~3 times than that of the referential PD without modification.
Found 2
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Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Wavelength-selective duotone single-component photochromic gallophosphate-oxalate with multidirectional UVB/UVC/NIR photoswitch electron transfer
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