Transparent Ga2O3 Photodetectors for Harsh Optoelectronics

We fabricate fully transparent solar-blind DUV PD devices employing β-Ga₂O₃ as an active layer and indium zinc oxide (IZO) as the transparent electrodes, exhibiting the average transmittance up to 80% from visible to near IR wavelength region without image blurring. The β-Ga₂O₃ MSM PDs for the use in harsh environments show a very low dark current (~1 nA), no sign of breakdown even at a bias higher than 200 V, excellent thermal stability, and intrinsic solar blindness. The dark current of β-Ga₂O₃ MSM PDs under significantly different oxygen concentration in the ambiences is similar, indicating that the high inertness to surface effect due to superior crystallinity nature of β-Ga₂O₃. The working temperature is up to 700 K and the responsivity is 0.32 mA/W at 10 V bias under 185-nm illumination. β-Ga₂O₃ PDs can be fully recovered after 700-K operation, showing excellent thermal reliability and robustness. The intriguing optoelectronic and electrical properties of β-Ga₂O₃ promise a new generation of stable, solar-blind DUV PDs for the extremely harsh electronic applications, such as sensing, imaging, and intrachip optical interconnects in high-temperature environments.