Ultrasensitive Self-Powered Flexible Crystalline β-Ga2O3-Based Photodetector Obtained through Lattice Symmetry and Band Alignment Engineering.

Abstract

Due to its portable and self-powered characteristics, the construction of Ga₂O₃-based semiconductor flexible devices that can improve the adaptability in various complex environments have drawn great attention in recent decades. However, conventional Ga₂O₃-based flexible heterojunctions are based on either amorphous or poor crystalline Ga₂O₃ materials, which severely limit the performance of the corresponding devices. Here, through lattice-symmetry and energy-band alignment engineering, we construct a high-quality crystalline flexible NiO/β-Ga₂O₃ p-n self-powered photodetector. Owing to its suitable energy-band alignment structure, the device shows a high photo-to-dark current ratio (1.71 × 10⁵) and a large detection sensitivity (6.36 × 10¹⁴ Jones) under zero bias, which is superior than most Ga₂O₃ self-powered photodetectors even for those based on rigid substrates. Moreover, the fabricated photodetectors further show excellent mechanical stability and robustness in bending conditions, demonstrating their potential practical applications in flexible optoelectronic devices. These findings provide insights into the manipulation of crystal lattice and energy band engineering in flexible self-powered photodetectors and also offer guideline for designing other Ga₂O₃-based flexible electronic devices.