Yaonan Hou

Semiconductor ultraviolet photodetectors based on ZnO and MgxZn1−xO

It is indispensable to develop wide-band-gap based ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors (PDs), which are one of the basic building blocks of solid state UV optoelectronic devices. In the last two decades, we have witnessed the renaissance of ZnO as a wide-band-gap semiconductor and an enormous development of ZnO-based UV PDs as a result of its superb optical and electronic properties. Since the first demonstration, a great variety of UV PDs based on ZnO and its related materials have been proposed and demonstrated. These PDs, with diverse device geometries, exhibit either high performance or multiple functions, reflecting a state-of-the-art technology of UV optoelectronics. In this review, we study the latest progress of UV PDs made on ZnO and MgxZn1−xO, which is a representative alloy of ZnO for band-gap engineering techniques. The discussion focuses on the device performance and the behind device physics according to the architecture of UV PDs.

Fluorine doping: a feasible solution to enhancing the conductivity of high-resistance wide bandgap Mg0.51Zn0.49O active components.

N-type doping of high-resistance wide bandgap semiconductors, wurtzite high-Mg-content MgxZn1–xO for instance, has always been a fundamental application-motivated research issue. Herein, we report a solution to enhancing the conductivity of high-resistance Mg0.51Zn0.49O active components, which has been reliably achieved by fluorine doping via radio-frequency plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxial growth. Fluorine dopants were demonstrated to be effective donors in Mg0.51Zn0.49O single crystal film having a solar-blind 4.43 eV bandgap, with an average concentration of 1.0 × 1019 F/cm3.The dramatically increased carrier concentration (2.85 × 1017 cm−3 vs ~1014 cm−3) and decreased resistivity (129 Ω · cm vs ~106 Ω cm) indicate that the electrical properties of semi-insulating Mg0.51Zn0.49O film can be delicately regulated by F doping. Interestingly, two donor levels (17 meV and 74 meV) associated with F were revealed by temperature-dependent Hall measurements. A Schottky type metal-semiconductor-metal ultraviolet photodetector manifests a remarkably enhanced photocurrent, two orders of magnitude higher than that of the undoped counterpart. The responsivity is greatly enhanced from 0.34 mA/W to 52 mA/W under 10 V bias. The detectivity increases from 1.89 × 109 cm Hz1/2/W to 3.58 × 1010 cm Hz1/2/W under 10 V bias at room temperature.These results exhibit F doping serves as a promising pathway for improving the performance of high-Mg-content MgxZn1-xO-based devices.

Enhancement-mode ZnO/Mg0.5Zn0.5O HFET on Si

We report a bottom-gate and enhancement-mode ZnO/Mg0.5Zn0.5O heterojunction field effect transistor (HFET) on Si. This new heterostructure which is grown by using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) reduces interface defects and traps. By tailoring Mg composition (x) in the MgxZn1−xO barrier layer up to 50%, the Mg0.5Zn0.5O exhibits insulating properties and the resultant HFET works in an enhancement mode with a field effective mobility of μFE = 21cm2 V−1 s−1, transconductance of gm = 44mSmm−1, on/off ratio of 1 × 105 and off current ~1.33 × 10−8 Amm−1. The device shows good ambient stability.

Ga Zn -V Zn acceptor complex defect in Ga-doped ZnO

Gallium (Ga)-doped ZnO is regarded as a promising plasmonic material with a wide range of applications in plasmonics. In this study, zinc self-diffusion experiments are adopted to disclose the nature of the dominant compensating defect in Ga-doped ZnO isotopic heterostructures. The (GaZn-VZn)− complex defect, instead of the isolated VZn2−, is identified as the predominant compensating acceptor center responsible for the low donor doping efficiency. The comparative diffusion experiments operated by the secondary ion mass spectrometry reveal a ~0.78 eV binding energy of this complex defect, which well matches the electrical activation energy derived from the temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements (~(0.82±0.02) eV). These findings contribute to an essential understanding of the (GaZn-VZn)− complex defect and the potential engineering routes of heavily Ga-doped ZnO.

Enhanced photoresponse performance in Ga/Ga2O3 nanocomposite solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors

In the present work, we explore the solar-blind ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors (PDs) with enhanced photoresponse, fabricated on Ga/Ga2O3 nanocomposite films. Through pre-burying metal Ga layers and thermally post-annealing the laminated Ga2O3/Ga/Ga2O3 structures, Ga/Ga2O3 nanocomposite films incorporated with Ga nanospheres are obtained. For the prototype PD, it is found that the photocurrent and photoresponsivity will first increase and then decrease monotonically with the thickness of the pre-buried Ga layer increasing. Each of all PDs shows a spectrum response peak at 260 nm, demonstrating the ability to detect solar-blind UV light. Adjustable photoresponse enhancement factors are achieved by means of the surface plasmon in the nanocomposite films. The PD with a 20 nm thick Ga interlayer exhibits the best solar-blind UV photoresponse characteristics with an extremely low dark current of 8.52 pA at 10-V bias, a very high light-to-dark ratio of ~ 8 × 105, a large photoresponsivity of 2.85 A/W at 15-V bias, and a maximum enhancement factor of ~ 220. Our research provides a simple and practical route to high performance solar-blind UV PDs and potential applications in the field of optoelectronics.