Over 5 × 103‑Fold Enhancement of Responsivity in Ga2O3‑Based Solar Blind Photodetector via Acousto–Photoelectric Coupling

• Published in: ACS nano 2023-12, Vol.17 (23), p.24033-24041
• Main Authors: Zhang, Qingyi, Dong, Dianmeng, Zhang, Tao, Zhou, Tianhong, Yang, Yongtao, Tang, Yuanjun, Shen, Jiaying, Wang, Tiejun, Bian, Taiyu, Zhang, Fan, Luo, Wei, Zhang, Yang, Wu, Zhenping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1936-0851; 1936-086X
• DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c08938

The emergence of the wide-band-gap semiconductor Ga2O3 has propelled it to the forefront of solar blind detection activity owing to its key features. Although various architectures and designs of Ga2O3-based solar blind photodetectors have been proposed, their performance still falls short of commercial standards. In this study, we demonstrate a method to enhance the performance of a simple metal–semiconductor–metal-structured Ga2O3-based solar blind photodetector by exciting acoustic surface waves. Specifically, we demonstrate that under a bias voltage of 100 mV and a radio frequency signal of 20 dBm, the responsivity and detectivity can increase from 2.78 to 1.65 × 104 A/W and from 8.35 × 1014 to 2.66 × 1016 jones, respectively, rivaling a commercial photomultiplier tube. The over 5 × 103-fold enhancement in responsivity could be attributed to the acousto–photoelectric coupling mechanism. Furthermore, since surface acoustic waves can also serve as signal receivers, such photodetectors offer the prospect of dual-mode detection. Our findings reveal a promising pathway for achieving high-performance Ga2O3-based electronics and optoelectronics.