Ultra-High Performance Amorphous Ga2O3 Photodetector Arrays for Solar-Blind Imaging

The growing demand for scalable solar-blind image sensors with remarkable photosensitive properties has stimulated the research on more advanced solar-blind photodetector (SBPD) arrays. In this work, the authors demonstrate ultrahigh-performance metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) SBPDs based on amorphous (a-) Ga2O3 via a post-annealing process. The post-annealed MSM a-Ga2O3 SBPDs exhibit superhigh sensitivity of 733 A/W and high response speed of 18 ms, giving a high gain-bandwidth product over 10(4) at 5 V. The SBPDs also show ultrahigh photo-to-dark current ratio of 3.9 x 10(7). Additionally, the PDs demonstrate super-high specific detectivity of 3.9 x 10(16) Jones owing to the extremely low noise down to 3.5 fW Hz(-1/2), suggesting high signal-to-noise ratio. Underlying mechanism for such superior photoelectric properties is revealed by Kelvin probe force microscopy and first principles calculation. Furthermore, for the first time, a large-scale, high-uniformity 32 x 32 image sensor array based on the post-annealed a-Ga2O3 SBPDs is fabricated. Clear image of target object with high contrast can be obtained thanks to the high sensitivity and uniformity of the array. These results demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of the Ga2O3 PDs for applications in solar-blind imaging, environmental monitoring, artificial intelligence and machine vision.

Automated summary

This study focuses on ultrahigh-performance metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) solar-blind photodetectors (SBPDs) based on post-annealed amorphous (a-) Ga2O3, demonstrating superhigh sensitivity and response speed, as well as ultrahigh photo-to-dark current ratio and specific detectivity, indicating practicality for applications in solar-blind imaging, environmental monitoring, artificial intelligence, and machine vision.