Impact of thermal, optical, and trap effects on β -Ga 2 O 3 /ZnO heterojunction for RF applications

Abstract Gallium oxide (Ga 2 O 3 ) is a metal oxide semiconductor with an ultra-wide bandgap greater than 4.5 eV. This paper simulates the β -Ga 2 O 3 /ZnO heterojunction photodetector (PD) using TCAD as a self-powered UV detector up to 600 K. The simulation analyzes both electrical and optical characteristics of the device, demonstrating a type-I heterojunction at the β -Ga 2 O 3 /ZnO interface. This study investigates how electron affinity, illumination intensity, temperature, and trap concentration affect device behavior. The β -Ga 2 O 3 /ZnO PD exhibits excellent performance: ultra-low dark current (0.28 fA), photo-to-dark current ratio of 10 3 at 0 V bias.The peak responsivity is 7.5 mA W − 1 under 400 μ W cm − 2 illumination at 254 nm of wavelength. The device demonstrates strong potential for diverse applications such as RF-photonic systems and UV detection.