An aerosol deposition method was used to fabricate a solar-blind photodetector (for UV-C) using thin films of β-Ga2O3, which is a wide-bandgap oxide material. The Ga2O3 films deposited at room temperature presented a polycrystalline structure and a thickness of approximately 4 µm and showed a high transmittance of approximately 70–80 % in the visible region; the transmittance was approximately 60–80 % even after heat treatment up to a 800 °C. The Ga2O3 films that were post-annealed at a temperature of 800 °C showed an Iphoto/Idark ratio of approximately 40,000 in the solar-blind region with a light source of 254 nm, together with very good light detection characteristics (initial rising and decay times of 0.45 s and 0.13 s, respectively). Because of the good performances observed for the Ga2O3 thin films even at extreme conditions, they exhibit a high potential for use as photodetectors in several applications.
This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry Education(grant number) ( NRF-2022R1I1A1A01053522 ) and Universities leading lab-specific start-ups through the Commercializations Promotion Agency for R&D Outcomes (COMPA) grant funded by the Korea government(MIST) (No. startuplab22-006 ).
