The growth of HVPE α-Ga2O3 crystals and its solar-blind UV photodetector applications

While Ga2O3 crystals are considered as the next generation optoelectronic materials, the exploration of HVPE α-Ga2O3 crystals and their use as solar-blind UV photodetector are still insufficient. In this paper, we investigated the structural characterization of HVPE α-Ga2O3 materials and their properties as solar-blind photodetector. HVPE α-Ga2O3 exhibited excellent structural properties with relatively good crystallinity, and smooth surface morphology, without any complicated process. Raman investigations confirmed the existence of slight compressive strain in the as-grown HVPE α-Ga2O3. UV–visible spectrophotometry proved that HVPE α-Ga2O3 had an optical bandgap of 5.15 eV, evidencing the suitability of this material for application as solar-blind photodetector. Furthermore, the photodetector synthesized using HVPE α-Ga2O3 showed excellent photo-response characteristics. We believe that this study will support further development of functional oxide semiconductor materials and opto-electronic devices. •The exploration of the HVPE α-Ga2O3 crystals and photodetector application was implemented.•α-Ga2O3 exhibited excellent structural properties with good crystallinity, surface morphology without any complicated process.•Raman investigations confirmed the existence of compressive strain in the as-grown α-Ga2O3.•The photodetector realized on HVPE α-Ga2O3 showed excellent solar-blind and photo-response characteristics.