Single-Crystalline All-Oxide α-γ-β Heterostructures for Deep-Ultraviolet Photodetection

Recent advancements in gallium oxide (Ga2O3)-based heterostructures have allowed optoelectronic devices to be used extensively in the fields of power electronics and deep-ultraviolet photodetection. While most previous research has involved realizing single-crystalline Ga2O3 layers on native substrates for high conductivity and visible-light transparency, presented and investigated herein is a single-crystalline beta-Ga2O3 layer grown on an alpha-Al2O3 substrate through an interfacial gamma-In2O3 layer. The single-crystalline transparent conductive oxide layer made of wafer-scalable gamma-In2O3 provides high carrier transport, visible-light transparency, and antioxidation properties that are critical for realizing vertically oriented heterostructures for transparent oxide photonic platforms. Physical characterization based on X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging confirms the single-crystalline nature of the grown films and the crystallographic orientation relationships among the monoclinic beta-Ga2O3, cubic gamma-In2O3, and trigonal alpha-Al2O3, while the elemental composition and sharp interfaces across the heterostructure are confirmed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Furthermore, the energy-band offsets are determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at the beta-Ga2O3/gamma-In2O3 interface, elucidating a type-II heterojunction with conduction- and valence-band offsets of 0.16 and 1.38 eV, respectively. Based on the single-crystalline beta-Ga2O3/gamma-In2O3 alpha-Al2O3 all-oxide heterostructure, a vertically oriented DUV photodetector is fabricated that exhibits a high photoresponsivity of 94.3 A/W, an external quantum efficiency of 4.6 X 10(4)%, and a specific detectivity of 3.09 X 10(12) Jones at 250 nm. The present demonstration lays a strong foundation for and paves the way to future all-oxide-based transparent photonic platforms.