Total Ionizing Dose Responses of β-Ga₂O₃ Thin Film Solar-Blind Ultraviolet Photodetectors

This article investigated the total ionizing dose (TID) effects on the metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\beta $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-Ga2O3 solar-blind ultraviolet photodetector under bias conditions through photoelectric response tests. The photocurrent and dark current of the device exhibited a notable increase after 2 Mrad(Si) TID irradiation. The TID irradiation caused a slight degradation in a photo-to-dark current ratio (PDCR). Additionally, microscopic characteristic changes and degradation mechanisms due to TID irradiation were evaluated using Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The TID-induced oxygen vacancy defect in the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\beta $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-Ga2O3 film increased both the photocurrent and dark current of the device. This study demonstrated the outstanding TID radiation tolerance of biased <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\beta $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-Ga2O3 solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors, highlighting their significant potential for applications in the field of optoelectronics under extreme environmental conditions.