Issue 13, 2018

High-performance nonpolar a-plane GaN-based metal–semiconductor–metal UV photo-detectors fabricated on LaAlO3 substrates

Abstract

High-performance nonpolar a-plane GaN-based metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) ultraviolet (UV) photo-detectors are fabricated based on high-quality nonpolar a-plane GaN epitaxial films grown on LaAlO3(100) substrates. By effectively controlling the interfacial reactions between GaN and LaAlO3(100) through low temperature growth by pulsed laser deposition, together with systematically studying the formation mechanism of GaN/LaAlO3 hetero-interfaces by first-principles calculations, high-quality nonpolar a-plane GaN epitaxial films with no interfacial layer are obtained. The as-grown ∼300 nm-thick nonpolar a-plane GaN epitaxial films grown at a low temperature of 450 °C show high crystalline quality with the full-width at half-maximum values of 0.21° and 0.41° for GaN(11−20) and GaN(10−11) X-ray rocking curves, respectively; and a very smooth surface with a root-mean-square surface roughness of 1.2 nm. These high-quality nonpolar a-plane GaN epitaxial films are then fabricated into MSM UV photo-detectors, which reveal a high responsivity of 1.35 A W−1 with a low dark current of 8.2 nA @ 5 V. These are the best values for nonpolar GaN-based MSM UV photo-detectors ever reported. These high-performance nonpolar a-plane GaN-based MSM UV photo-detectors have immense potential for application in UV warning and curing systems and light therapy devices.

Graphical abstract: High-performance nonpolar a-plane GaN-based metal–semiconductor–metal UV photo-detectors fabricated on LaAlO3 substrates

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Dec 2017
Accepted
25 Feb 2018
First published
26 Feb 2018

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018,6, 3417-3426

High-performance nonpolar a-plane GaN-based metal–semiconductor–metal UV photo-detectors fabricated on LaAlO3 substrates

W. Wang, Y. Zheng, X. Li, Y. Li, L. Huang and G. Li, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018, 6, 3417 DOI: 10.1039/C7TC05534J

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