Solar Blind Photodetectors Enabled by Nanotextured β-Ga2O3 Films Grown via Oxidation of GaAs Substrates

Dewyani Patil-Chaudhari; Matthew Ombaba; Jin Yong Oh; Howard Mao; Kyle H. Montgomery; Andrew Lange; Subhash Mahajan; Jerry M. Woodall; M. Saif Islam

doi:10.1109/JPHOT.2017.2688463

IEEE Photonics Journal (Jan 2017)

Solar Blind Photodetectors Enabled by Nanotextured β-Ga2O3 Films Grown via Oxidation of GaAs Substrates

Dewyani Patil-Chaudhari,
Matthew Ombaba,
Jin Yong Oh,
Howard Mao,
Kyle H. Montgomery,
Andrew Lange,
Subhash Mahajan,
Jerry M. Woodall,
M. Saif Islam

Affiliations

Dewyani Patil-Chaudhari: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Matthew Ombaba: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Jin Yong Oh: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Howard Mao: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Kyle H. Montgomery: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Andrew Lange: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Subhash Mahajan: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Jerry M. Woodall: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
M. Saif Islam: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOT.2017.2688463
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 9, no. 2
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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A simple and inexpensive method for growing Ga2O3 using GaAs wafers is demonstrated. Si-doped GaAs wafers are heated to 1050 °C in a horizontal tube furnace in both argon and air ambients in order to convert their surfaces to β-Ga2O3. The β-Ga2O3 films are characterized using scanning electron micrograph, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. They are also used to fabricate solar blind photodetectors. The devices, which had nanotextured surfaces, exhibited a high sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) illumination due in part to large surface areas. Furthermore, the films have coherent interfaces with the substrate, which leads to a robust device with high resistance to thermo-mechanical stress. The photoconductance of the β-Ga2O3 films is found to increase by more than three orders of magnitude under 270 nm ultraviolet illumination with respect to the dark current. The fabricated device shows a responsivity of ~292 mA/W at this wavelength.

Published in IEEE Photonics Journal

ISSN: 1943-0655 (Online)
Publisher: IEEE
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General): Applied optics. Photonics; Science: Physics: Optics. Light
Website: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=4563994

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