Optimizing Zr Self-Compensation Doping Effect for High-Performance Wearable Amorphous Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Photodetectors with Enhanced Durability in Harsh Environments
Jiangyiming Jiang, Simeng Wu, Zijian Ding, Qian Xin, Yun Tian
Abstract
Flexible photodetectors have garnered significant attention in recent years due to their vast potential. Among these, amorphous Ga 2 O 3 (a-Ga 2 O 3 ) stands out as a highly promising candidate for flexible solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors, owing to its wide band gap, low-temperature fabrication advantages, and exceptional stability under extreme conditions. However, the fabrication of a-Ga 2 O 3 inevitably introduces oxygen vacancy (V O ) defects, leading to declined photodetection performance and compromised corrosion resistance. In this study, we developed a zirconium (Zr) self-compensation doping strategy with concentration optimization to suppress V O defects, thus enhancing the optoelectronic performance and durability of flexible a-Ga 2 O 3 photodetectors. The introduction of Zr significantly eliminated intrinsic V O defects in Ga 2 O 3 films, lowering the dark current by over 3 orders of magnitude from ∼10 –8 to ∼10 –11 A and reducing the response time by a factor of 50, achieving a response time of 6 μs. The detectivity of the optimized devices reached a high level of 3 × 10 14 Jones, indicating exceptional sensitivity to ultraviolet light. Durability tests further demonstrated that the optimized devices exhibited outstanding mechanical robustness, maintaining over 95% of their initial performance after 10,000 bending cycles, and stable photodetection performance even under harsh salt spray conditions for 72 h. This work provides an effective solution for developing high-performance flexible photodetectors tailored for wearable devices and applications in harsh environments.