Boosting the performance of deep-ultraviolet photodetector arrays based on phase-transformed heteroepitaxial β-Ga2O3 films for solar-blind imaging

Solar-blind imaging has attracted considerable interest in both military and civilian applications,spurring the development of high-performance deep-ultraviolet photodetector arrays(PDAs) with wide-bandgap semiconductor materials.Herein,we present a novel method to enhance the performance of solar-blind PDAs(SBPDs) using β-Ga2O3films obtained by the phase transition of heterogeneous epitaxial sub-stable ε-Ga2O3,achieved through high-temperature rapid annealing.Metal-semiconductor-metaltype SBPDs based on phase-transformed β-Ga2O3films exhibited superior performance,including an ultrahigh responsivity of 459.38 A/W,detectivity of 1014–1015Jones,external quantum efficiency of 104%–105%,rejection ratio(R254/R365) of 105–106,photo-to-dark current ratio of 104–106,fast response speed of 1.01 s/0.06 s,and favorable stability.Notably,the ultrahigh responsivity of β-Ga2O3-film-based devices was approximately 222-fold higher than that of ε-Ga2O3film-based devices.The assembled 4×5 β-Ga2O3film-based PDAs exhibited favorable uniformity,repeatability,and high spatial resolution for solarblind imaging.Our study offers a promising approach for the development of high-performance β-Ga2O3-based PDAs for solarblind ultraviolet imaging with potential applications in both military and civilian fields.