High-performance metal-semiconductor-metal InGaN photodetectors using CaF2 as the insulator

The authors report on the high-performance metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors (PDs) fabricated on high-quality InGaN film by introducing a superwide bandgap calcium fluoride (CaF2) as the insulator. The dark current of the PDs with CaF2 is drastically reduced by six orders of magnitude compared with those without CaF2, resulting in an extremely high discrimination ratio larger than 10(6) between ultraviolet and visible light. The responsivity at 338 nm is as high as 10.4 A/W biased at 2 V, corresponding to a photocurrent gain around 40. The CaF2 layer behaves as an excellent insulator for the InGaN-based MSM-PDs in dark condition, while it allows the electron injection through the metal/semiconductor interface under ultraviolet illumination, contributing to the photocurrent gain without sacrificing the response time (similar to ms). (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3562326]