Chao Xie, Xing-Tong Lu, Xiao-Wei Tong, Zhi-Xiang Zhang, Feng-Xia Liang,* Lin Liang,
Lin-Bao Luo,* and Yu-Cheng Wu*
Abstract:Light detection in the solar-blind deep-ultraviolet (DUV) wavelength region has been a subject of great interest for both scientific and industrial communities, due to its significant applications in many relevant fields. The rapid advances in preparing high-quality ultrawide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors have enabled the realization of various high-performance DUV photodetectors with different geometries, which provide an avenue for circumventing numerous disadvantages in traditional DUV detectors. This article presents a comprehensive review on the applications of UWBG semiconductors for solar-blind DUV light detection in the past decades. Different kinds of DUV photodetectors, which are based on varied UWBG semiconductors including Ga2O3, MgxZn1-xO, III-nitride compounds, diamond, etc., and operate on different working principles, are introduced and discussed systematically. Some emerging techniques to optimize device performance are addressed as well. Finally, we summarize the existing techniques and propose future challenges to shed light on the development in this critical research field.
