Gallium oxide nanowires for UV detection with enhanced growth and material properties

Abstract In the last decade, interest in the use of beta gallium oxide (β - Ga 2 O 3 ) as a semiconductor for high power/high temperature devices and deep-UV sensors has grown. Ga 2 O 3 has an enormous band gap of 4.8 eV, which makes it well suited for these applications. Compared to thin films, nanowires exhibit a higher surface-to-volume ratio, increasing their sensitivity for detection of chemical substances and light. In this work, we explore a simple and inexpensive method of growing high-density gallium oxide nanowires at high temperatures. Gallium oxide nanowire growth can be achieved by heating and oxidizing pure gallium at high temperatures (~ 1000 °C) in the presence of trace amounts of oxygen. This process can be optimized to large-scale production to grow high-quality, dense and long Ga 2 O 3 nanowires. We show the results of morphological, structural, electrical and optical characterization of the β-Ga 2 O 3 nanowires including the optical bandgap and photoconductance. The influence of density on these Ga 2 O 3 nanowires and their properties will be examined in order to determine the optimum configuration for the detection of UV light.