Understanding detailed avalanche mechanisms is critical for design optimization of avalanche photodiodes (APDs). In this work, avalanche characteristics and single photon counting performance of 4H-SiC n-i-p and p-i-n APDs are compared. By studying the evolution of breakdown voltage as a function of incident light wavelength, it is confirmed that at the deep ultraviolet (UV) wavelength region the avalanche events in 4H-SiC n-i-p APDs are mainly induced by hole-initiated ionization, while electron-initiated ionization is the main cause of avalanche breakdown in 4H-SiC p-i-n APDs. Meanwhile, at the same dark count rate, the single photon counting efficiency of n-i-p APDs is considerably higher than that of p-i-n APDs. The higher performance of n-i-p APDs can be explained by the larger impact ionization coefficient of holes in 4H-SiC. In addition, this is the first time, to the best of our knowledge, to report single photon detection performance of vertical 4H-SiC n-i-p-n APDs.

The 8 μm thick single-crystalline α-Ga₂O₃ epilayers have been heteroepitaxially grown on sapphire (0001) substrates via mist chemical vapor deposition technique. High resolution X-ray diffraction measurements show that the full-widths-at-half-maximum (FWHM) of rocking curves for the (0006) and (10-14) planes are 0.024° and 0.24°, and the corresponding densities of screw and edge dislocations are 2.24 × 10⁶ and 1.63 × 10⁹ cm^-2, respectively, indicative of high single crystallinity. The out-of-plane and in-plane epitaxial relationships are [0001] α-Ga₂O₃//[0001] α-Al₂O₃ and [11-20] α-Ga₂O₃//[11-20] α-Al₂O₃, respectively. The lateral domain size is in micron scale and the indirect bandgap is determined as 5.03 eV by transmittance spectra. Raman measurement indicates that the lattice-mismatch induced compressive residual strain cannot be ruled out despite the large thickness of the α-Ga₂O₃ epilayer. The achieved high quality α-Ga₂O₃ may provide an alternative material platform for developing high performance power devices and solar-blind photodetectors.

In this work, a GaN p-i-n diode based on Mg ion implantation for visible-blind UV detection is demonstrated. With an optimized implantation and annealing process, a p-GaN layer and corresponding GaN p-i-n photodiode are achieved via Mg implantation. As revealed in the UV detection characterizations, these diodes exhibit a sharp wavelength cutoff at 365 nm, high UV/visible rejection ratio of 1.2×104, and high photoresponsivity of 0.35 A/W, and are proved to be comparable with commercially available GaN p-n photodiodes. Additionally, a localized states-related gain mechanism is systematically investigated, and a relevant physics model of electric-field-assisted photocarrier hopping is proposed. The demonstrated Mg ion-implantation-based approach is believed to be an applicable and CMOS-process-compatible technology for GaN-based p-i-n photodiodes.

Solar-blind photodetectors are of great interest to a wide range of industrial, civil, environmental, and biological applications. As one of the emerging ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors, gallium oxide (Ga2O3) exhibits unique advantages over other wide-bandgap semiconductors, especially in developing high-performance solar-blind photodetectors. This paper comprehensively reviews the latest progresses of solar-blind photodetectors based on Ga2O3 materials in various forms of bulk single crystal, epitaxial films, nanostructures, and their ternary alloys. The basic working principles of photodetectors and the fundamental properties and synthesis of Ga2O3, as well as device processing developments, have been briefly summarized. A special focus is to address the physical mechanism for commonly observed huge photoconductive gains. Benefitting from the rapid development in material epitaxy and device processes, Ga2O3-based solar-blind detectors represent to date one of the most prospective solutions for UV detection technology towards versatile applications.