Solar-Blind Photodetectors for Harsh Electronics

We demonstrate solar-blind photodetectors (PDs) by employing AlN thin films on Si(100) substrates with excellent temperature tolerance and radiation hardness. Even at a bias higher than 200 V the AlN PDs on Si show a dark current as low as similar to 1 nA. The working temperature is up to 300 degrees C and the radiation tolerance is up to 10(13) cm(-2) of 2-MeV proton fluences for AlN metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) PDs. Moreover, the AlN PDs show a photoresponse time as fast as similar to 110 ms (the rise time) and similar to 80 ms (the fall time) at 5 V bias. The results demonstrate that AlN MSM PDs hold high potential in next-generation deep ultraviolet PDs for use in harsh environments.