In-doped Ga ₂O ₃ nanobelt based photodetector with high sensitivity and wide-range photoresponse

Doping is an efficient way to tune the electrical and photoelectrical performances of one-dimensional semiconductors which have potential application as active materials in high performance nanoscale devices. Ga ₂O ₃ is one the most promising 1D semiconducting systems. However, controlled doping of Ga ₂O ₃ toward higher photoelectrical performances in Ga ₂O ₃-based photodetectors remains problematic. Herein high-quality In-doped Ga ₂O ₃ nanobelts are fabricated through a facile and effective thermal evaporation process. Their morphology and structure are systematically characterized. Indium has successfully been doped into the Ga ₂O ₃ nanobelts based on the data obtained. The In-doped Ga ₂O ₃ nanobelt-based photodetector has shown a higher sensitivity (9.99 × 10 ⁴%), responsivity (5.47 × 10 ² A W ^-1), quantum efficiency (2.72 × 10 ⁵%) and less rise/decay time (1/0.6 s), i.e. much better figures compared with not only the undoped Ga ₂O ₃ nanobelt/film but also other reported doped photodetectors. In addition, the above photodetector has a wider range photoresponse. In doping has led to significant improvements in the values of key parameters of the Ga ₂O ₃-based photodetector, beneficial for the fabrication of high-performance photodetectors. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry.