In-situ composition development of Zn/In-doped Ga2O3 nanowire with ultrahigh responsivity and long-term stability for deep-UV photodetector

High-performance deep ultraviolet photodetectors (UV PDs) based on Ga2O3 have been applied widely in civil and military exploration. The incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency of Ga2O3-based UV PDs could be improved by doping metal or non-metal elements in the lattice. Herein, multi-metallic oxide of InZn co-doped Ga2O3 (InZn-Ga2O3) nanowires is synthesized via the in-situ chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The favorable 25%InZn-Ga2O3 exhibits a maximum responsivity of 440.42 A W−1 and a peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 2.15 × 105% under 254 nm light illumination at 10 V, which are 1.19 × 104 times higher than that for pure Ga2O3, indicating its enhanced detection ability for deep-UV light and high conversion efficiency from photons to electrons. A high UV/visible rejection ratio of 7.3 × 105 is also obtained, implying a high sensitivity for UV light. Moreover, the responsivity of the InZn-Ga2O3 UV PD remains unchanged after a long period of 8000 s testing. The superior performances of InZn-Ga2O3 UV PD are attributed to the improved crystal quality with decreased oxygen vacancies and elevated conductivity, which facilitate the separation and transfer of photoinduced electron-hole carriers. The DFT calculation and UV–vis spectra results reveal that the InZn-Ga2O3 possesses a narrowed band gap with enhanced light absorption and a decreased work function for the fast escape of electrons. In addition, the ohmic contact between InZn-Ga2O3 and Ag electrode accelerates the transfer and diffusion of photogenerated electrons. The achievements in our work present a multi-metallic oxide nanowire with high performance and an innovative mechanism analysis method for the applications of optoelectronic devices.