Open Access

Enhancement photoresponse in facile Zn-doped $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ photodetectors

Naresh Sharma ^* and Satinder K. Sharma^†

School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, Mandi 175005, Himachal Pradesh, India

^*Contact author: nareshsharma0809.ns@gmail.com
^†Contact author: satinder@iitmandi.ac.in

APS Open Sci. 1, 000208 – Published 9 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3ft2-4nhl

Abstract

In this work, we report a sol-gel-based combustion process for the formulation of gallium oxide ( $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ ) to develop robust UV-C (200–280 nm) photodetectors. Controlled Zn incorporation is employed to modulate the optical and electronic properties of $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ . The devices are fabricated on a $c$ -plane sapphire (0001) substrate, and a comparative analysis is performed for varying Zn dopant concentrations. Planar metal-semiconductor-metal structures with 50-µm-wide interdigitated aluminum electrode architecture are realized using standard photolithographic and processing techniques. The optimized photodetector devices exhibit a high responsivity, low rise time, and high photocurrent/dark current ratio of $\sim 20$ mA/W, $\sim 2$ s, and $\sim 10^{4}$ in the UV-C range, associated with Zn-dependent modification of the material’s optical response, local electronic environment, and carrier transport/trapping processes. It establishes the Zn-doped $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ as a promising platform for robust, low-cost, and high-performance solar-blind UV-C photodetector applications.

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (44)

M. Razeghi and A. Rogalski, Semiconductor ultraviolet detectors, J. Appl. Phys. 79, 7433 (1996).
S. Nakagomi, Ultraviolet photodetector based on a beta-gallium oxide/nickel oxide/beta-gallium oxide heterojunction structure, Sensors 23, 8332 (2023).
S. H. Lee, S. B. Kim, Y. J. Moon, S. M. Kim, H. J. Jung, M. S. Seo, K. M. Lee, S. K. Kim, and S. W. Lee, High-responsivity deep-ultraviolet-selective photodetectors using ultrathin gallium oxide films, ACS Photon. 4, 2937 (2017).
P. Mukhopadhyay, I. Hatipoglu, Y. K. Frodason, J. B. Varley, M. S. Williams, D. A. Hunter, N. K. Gunasekar, P. R. Edwards, R. W. Martin, F. Wu, A. Mauze, J. S. Speck, and W. V. Schoenfeld, Role of defects in ultra-high gain in fast planar tin gallium oxide UV-C photodetector by MBE, Appl. Phys. Lett. 121, 111105 (2022).
P. Schlupp, D. Splith, H. von Wenckstern, and M. Grundmann, Electrical properties of vertical $p$ -NiO/ $n - G a_{2} O_{3}$ and $p − ZnC o_{2} O_{4} / n − G a_{2} O_{3} pn$ -heterodiodes, Phys. Status Solidi A 216, 1800729 (2019).
T. M. H. Nguyen, M. H. Tran, and C. W. Bark, Growth of low-defect Si-doped $G a_{2} O_{3}$ film on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate for self-powered and high-performance ultraviolet photodetector, ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. 5, 6459 (2023).
X. Lu, Y. Deng, Y. Pei, Z. Chen, and G. Wang, Recent advances in NiO/ $G a_{2} O_{3}$ heterojunctions for power electronics, J. Semicond. 44, 061802 (2023).
A. I. Titov, K. V. Karabeshkin, A. I. Struchkov, V. I. Nikolaev, A. Azarov, D. S. Gogova, and P. A. Karaseov, Comparative study of radiation tolerance of GaN and $G a_{2} O_{3}$ polymorphs, Vacuum 200, 111005 (2022).
A. E. Romanov, S. I. Stepanov, V. I. Nikolaev, and V. E. Bougrov, Gallium oxide: Properties and applications—A review, Rev. Adv. Mater. Sci. 44, 63 (2016).
X. Chen, F. Ren, S. Gu, and J. Ye, Review of gallium-oxide-based solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors, Photon. Res. 7, 381 (2019).
K. Arora, N. Goel, M. Kumar, and M. Kumar, Ultrahigh performance of self-powered $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ thin film solar-blind photodetector grown on cost-effective Si substrate using high-temperature seed layer, ACS Photon. 5, 2391 (2018).
T. K. O. Vu, D. U. Lee, and E. K. Kim, The enhancement mechanism of photo-response depending on oxygen pressure for $G a_{2} O_{3}$ photo detectors, Nanotechnology 31, 245201 (2020).
K. H. Li, N. Alfaraj, C. H. Kang, L. Braic, M. N. Hedhili, Z. Guo, T. K. Ng, and B. S. Ooi, Deep-ultraviolet photodetection using single-crystalline $β − G a_{2} O_{3} / NiO$ heterojunctions, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 11, 35095 (2019).
A. S. Pratiyush, S. Krishnamoorthy, S. V. Solanke, Z. Xia, R. Muralidharan, S. Rajan, and D. N. Nath, High responsivity in molecular beam epitaxy grown $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ metal semiconductor metal solar blind deep-UV photodetector, Appl. Phys. Lett. 110, 221107 (2017).
A. Mondal, S. Nandi, M. K. Yadav, A. Nandi, and A. Bag, Broad range (254–302 nm) and high performance $G a_{2} O_{3}$ : $Sn O_{2}$ based deep UV photodetector, IEEE Trans. Nanotechnol. 21, 320 (2022).
P. Ravadgar, R.-H. Horng, S.-D. Yao, H.-Y. Lee, B.-R. Wu, S.-L. Ou, and L.-W. Tu, Effects of crystallinity and point defects on optoelectronic applications of $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ epilayers, Opt. Express 21, 24599 (2013).
Y. Jin, J. Wang, B. Sun, J. C. Blakesley, and N. C. Greenham, Solution-processed ultraviolet photodetectors based on colloidal ZnO nanoparticles, Nano Lett. 8, 1649 (2008).
H. Shen, Y. Yin, K. Tian, K. Baskaran, L. Duan, X. Zhao, and A. Tiwari, Growth and characterization of $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ thin films by sol-gel method for fast-response solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors, J. Alloys Compd. 766, 601 (2018).
M. K. Vronskii, A. Y. Ivanov, L. A. Sokura, A. V. Kremleva, and D. A. Bauman, Structural properties of $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ thin films obtained on different substrates by sol-gel method, Rev. Adv. Mater. Technol. 5, 26 (2023).
S. Kumar and R. Singh, Nanofunctional gallium oxide ( $G a_{2} O_{3}$ ) nanowires/nanostructures and their applications in nanodevices, Phys. Status Solidi RRL 7, 781 (2013).
J. R. Vig, UV/ozone cleaning of surfaces, Proc. Electrochem. Soc. 90, 105 (1990).
Y. Zhu, X. Xiu, F. Cheng, Y. Li, Z. Xie, T. Tao, P. Chen, B. Liu, R. Zhang, and Y. D. Zheng, Growth and nitridation of $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ thin films by sol-gel spin-coating epitaxy with post-annealing process, J. Sol-Gel Sci. Technol. 100, 183 (2021).
Y. Yao, Y. Ishikawa, and Y. Sugawara, X-ray diffraction and Raman characterization of $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ single crystal grown by edge-defined film-fed growth method, J. Appl. Phys. 126, 205106 (2019).
M. Bartic, C.-I. Baban, H. Suzuki, M. Ogita, and M. Isai, $β$ -gallium oxide as oxygen gas sensors at a high temperature, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 90, 2879 (2007).
L. X. Qian, Z. H. Wu, Y. Y. Zhang, P. T. Lai, X. Z. Liu, and Y. R. Li, Ultrahigh-responsivity, rapid-recovery, solar-blind photodetector based on highly nonstoichiometric amorphous gallium oxide, ACS Photon. 4, 2203 (2017).
G. Wu, Y. Xu, Y. Weng, F. Wu, and D. Guo, Achieving programmable bipolar photocurrents via $p$ – $n$ junction design for PEPS-based optoelectronic applications, Appl. Phys. Lett. 128, 113305 (2026).
W. Yue, J. Yan, J. Wu, and L. Zhang, Structural and optical properties of Zn-doped $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ films, J. Semicond. 33, 073003 (2012).
H. Liu, C. Xu, X. Pan, and Z. Ye, The photoluminescence properties of $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ thin films, J. Electron. Mater. 49, 4544 (2020).
K. Wang, Z. Wu, H. Tong, Z. Zeng, J. Kim, W. Cai, J. Jin, and Z. Zang, Development and challenges of $G a_{2} O_{3} − based$ heterojunctions for deep-UV detectors, ACS Photon. 12, 4851 (2025).
G. Wu, X. Guo, F. Zhang, X. Zhong, J. Wang, and D. Guo, Radiation damage mechanisms in β- $G a_{2} O_{3}$ MSM solar-blind photodetectors: Insights from proton, neutron, and γ-ray irradiation, IEEE Electron Device Lett. 46, 2086 (2025).
Y. Zhao and R. L. Frost, Raman spectroscopy and characterisation of α‐gallium oxyhydroxide and β‐gallium oxide nanorods, J. Raman Spectrosc. 39, 1494 (2008).
M. K. Yadav, A. Mondal, S. K. Sharma, and A. Bag, Unveiling thermal effects on Sn-doped β- $G a_{2} O_{3}$ Schottky barrier diodes on sapphire for high-temperature power electronics, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 71, 1529 (2024).
M. K. Yadav, A. Mondal, S. K. Sharma, and A. Bag, Probing interface trapping characteristics of Au/β - $G a_{2} O_{3}$ Schottky barrier diode on Si (100), IEEE Trans. Device Mater. Reliab. 21, 613 (2021).
S. Sharma, R. Khosla, D. Deva, H. Shrimali, and S. K. Sharma, Fluorine-chlorine co-doped $Ti O_{2} / CSA$ doped polyaniline based high performance inorganic/organic hybrid heterostructure for UV photodetection applications, Sens. Actuators A Phys. 261, 94 (2017).
R. Khosla, E. G. Rolseth, P. Kumar, S. S. Vadakupudhupalayam, S. K. Sharma, and J. Schulze, Charge trapping analysis of $metal / A l_{2} O_{3} / Si O_{2} / Si$ , gate stack for emerging embedded memories, IEEE Trans. Device Mater. Reliab. 17, 80 (2017).
J. Hu, B. Yu, and J. Zhou, New generation beta‐gallium oxide nanomaterials: Growth and performances in electronic devices, Adv. Eng. Mater. 25, 2300688 (2023).
S. Averine, Y. C. Chan, and Y. L. Lam, Electrical properties of Schottky barrier in MSM-diode structures, in 2000 International Semiconducting and Insulating Materials Conference, SIMC-XI (Cat. No. 00CH37046) (IEEE, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 2000), pp. 345–348.
D. Guo, X. Qin, M. Lv, H. Shi, Y. Su, G. Yao, S. Wang, C. Li, P. Li, and W. Tang, Decrease of oxygen vacancy by Zn-doped for improving solar-blind photoelectric performance in $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ thin films, Electron. Mater. Lett. 13, 483 (2017).
F. Alema, B. Hertog, O. Ledyaev, D. Volovik, G. Thoma, R. Miller, A. Osinsky, P. Mukhopadhyay, S. Bakhshi, H. Ali, and W. V. Schoenfeld, Solar blind photodetector based on epitaxial zinc doped $G a_{2} O_{3}$ thin film, Phys. Status Solidi A 214, 1600688 (2017).
J. Wang, X. Ji, Z. Yan, S. Qi, X. liu, A. Zhong, and P. Li, The role of oxygen vacancies in $G a_{2} O_{3}$ -based solar-blind photodetectors, J. Alloys Compd. 970, 172448 (2024).
M. Yu, C. Lv, J. Yu, Y. Shen, L. Yuan, J. Hu, S. Zhang, H. Cheng, Y. Zhang, and R. Jia, High-performance photodetector based on sol–gel epitaxially grown α/β $G a_{2} O_{3}$ thin films, Mater. Today Commun. 25, 101532 (2020).
Y. Zhu, Y. Li, X. Xiu, X. Sun, Z. Xie, T. Tao, P. Chen, B. Liu, J. Ye, R. Zhang, and Y. Zheng, Preparation of $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ films on off-angled sapphire substrates and solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 55, 424001 (2022).
H. Lu, X. Chen, S. Qiao, J. Chen, J. Mao, H. Zhu, P. Li, Y. Lu, and Y. He, High-performance self-driven ultraviolet photodetector based on sol–gel derived NiO/Sn: $G a_{2} O_{3} p$ – $n$ junction, ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. 8, 3985 (2026).
Y. Choi, S. S. Lee, W. J. Lee, and I. K. Park, Zn-doping induced phase control mechanism of $G a_{2} O_{3}$ thin films by spray pyrolysis deposition for application of solar-blind ultraviolet photodetector, Mater. Today Chem. 33, 101738 (2023).

APS Open Sci. 1, 000208– Published 9 November, 2026

Vol. 1

Received 5 April 2026
Accepted 6 October 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3ft2-4nhl

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

APS Open Science

Reuse & Permissions

Export citation

Export citation

Enhancement photoresponse in facile Zn-doped $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ photodetectors

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (44)

Outline

Information

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation

Enhancement photoresponse in facile Zn-doped β−Ga2O3 photodetectors

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (44)

Enhancement photoresponse in facile Zn-doped $β − G a_{2} O_{3}$ photodetectors