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Ultra-sensitive flexible Ga2O3 solar-blind photodetector array realized via ultra-thin absorbing medium

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Abstract

The quest for solar-blind photodetectors with outstanding optoelectronic properties and weak signals detection capability is essential for their applications in the field of imaging, communication, warning, etc. To date, Ga2O3 has demonstrated potential for high-performance solar-blind photodetectors. However, the performance usually decays superlinearly at low light intensities due to carrier-trapping effect, which limits the weak signal detection capability of Ga2O3 photodetectors. Herein, a Ga2O3 solar-blind photodetector with ultra-thin absorbing medium has been designed to restrain trapping of photo-generated carriers during the transporting process by shortening the carrier transport distance. Meanwhile, multiple-beam interference is employed to enhance the absorption efficiency of the Ga2O3 layer using an Al/Al2O3/Ga2O3 structure. Based on the ultra-thin absorbing medium with enhanced absorption efficiency, a 7 × 7 flexible photodetector array is developed, and the detectivity can reach 1.7 × 1015 Jones, which is among the best values ever reported for Ga2O3 photodetectors. Notably, the performance of the photodetector decays little as the illumination intensity is as weak as 5 nW/cm2, revealing the capacity to detect ultra-weak signals. In addition, the flexible photodetector array can execute the functions of imaging, spatial distribution of light source intensity, real-time light trajectory detection, etc. Our results may provide a route to high-performance solar-blind photodetectors for ultra-weak light detection.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFB0406500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61804136, U1804155, and 62027816), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Nos. 2018M630829 and 2019T120630).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China

    Yancheng Chen, Xun Yang, Yuan Zhang, Xuexia Chen, Junlu Sun, Zhiyang Xu, Kaiyong Li, Lin Dong & Chongxin Shan

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  1. Yancheng Chen
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  2. Xun Yang
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  3. Yuan Zhang
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  6. Zhiyang Xu
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  7. Kaiyong Li
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  8. Lin Dong
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  9. Chongxin Shan
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Correspondence to Xun Yang, Yuan Zhang or Chongxin Shan.

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Chen, Y., Yang, X., Zhang, Y. et al. Ultra-sensitive flexible Ga2O3 solar-blind photodetector array realized via ultra-thin absorbing medium. Nano Res. 15, 3711–3719 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3942-6

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