Over 5 × 10<sup>3</sup>-Fold Enhancement of Responsivity in Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-Based Solar Blind Photodetector via Acousto–Photoelectric Coupling
Qingyi Zhang, Dianmeng Dong, Tao Zhang, Tianhong Zhou, Yongtao Yang, Yuanjun Tang, Jiaying Shen, Tie-Jun Wang, Taiyu Bian, Fan Zhang, Wei Luo, Yang Zhang, Zhenping Wu
Abstract
The emergence of the wide-band-gap semiconductor Ga 2 O 3 has propelled it to the forefront of solar blind detection activity owing to its key features. Although various architectures and designs of Ga 2 O 3 -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 Ga 2 O 3 -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 × 10 4 A/W and from 8.35 × 10 14 to 2.66 × 10 16 jones, respectively, rivaling a commercial photomultiplier tube. The over 5 × 10 3 -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 Ga 2 O 3 -based electronics and optoelectronics.