Enhanced performance of solar‐blind UV photodetector based on β‐Ga2O3 nanowires grown by a magnetron sputtering

The development of the fabrication methods with a simple process and high controllability for the β‐Ga2O3, especially for the nanowires structure, has been a challenge. The slanted Ga2O3 nanowires are favorable for increasing the optical contact area and improving photon flux through nanoparticle scattering, leading to an increase in the photogenerated carrier yield. In this work, obliquely oriented and uniformly distributed β‐Ga2O3 nanowires were fabricated on Si substrates by RF magnetron sputtering using the strategy of Au nanoparticles as an intermediate catalyst. By depositing Ti and Au electrodes, we created the metal‐semiconductor‐metal (MSM) Ga2O3‐based photodetectors with a simple structure. Remarkably, the photodetector based on the β‐Ga2O3 nanowires outperformed the one based on the β‐Ga2O3 film, demonstrating higher responsivity and an exceptional photo‐current to dark‐current ratio (I photo /I dark ) of 1.43×104 @5 V. This work presents a promising approach to enhance the utilization of incident light and maximize the generation of photo‐induced carriers in the Ga2O3‐based photodetectors.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.