• Almost ready for prime time: Deep UV pho

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tue Apr 19 22:30:44 2022
    Almost ready for prime time: Deep UV photodetectors head to real-world
    testing
    Renewed interest emerges to connect deep UV detector researchers with
    industry for future space-borne solar-blind imaging platforms

    Date:
    April 19, 2022
    Source:
    American Institute of Physics
    Summary:
    Researchers are asking why, after decades of development and
    promising results, ultrawide bandgap photodetectors with deep UV
    capabilities haven't enjoyed widespread adoption, and are taking
    stock of advancements and challenges in the field. Unlike their
    silicon-based counterparts, UWBG photodetectors made from aluminum
    gallium nitride and gallium (III) oxide are more efficient, can
    tailor cutoff wavelengths, and do not need optical filters to
    reject visible or infrared wavelengths for solar-blind applications.



    FULL STORY ========================================================================== Numerous devices and detectors sense and catalog deep ultraviolet
    frequencies that the Earth's ozone layer otherwise absorbs. Most
    solar-blind space-borne imaging platforms still rely on photomultiplier
    tubes and/or microchannel plates working with silicon photodiodes that
    increase the systems' complexity and weight.


    ==========================================================================
    In Journal of Applied Physics, by AIP Publishing, researchers in India are asking why, after decades of development and promising results, ultrawide bandgap (UWBG) photodetectors with deep UV capabilities haven't enjoyed widespread adoption, and are taking stock of advancements and challenges
    in the field.

    "From the device and materials point of view, enough advances have
    been made," said author Digbijoy Nath, from the Indian Institute of
    Science. "Now, it's time to bring systems and imaging experts and device
    and materials engineers together to study and qualify UWBG detectors
    under actual conditions for real- world applications." Unlike their silicon-based counterparts, UWBG photodetectors made from aluminum
    gallium nitride and gallium (III) oxide are more efficient, can tailor
    cutoff wavelengths, and do not need optical filters to reject visible
    or infrared wavelengths for solar-blind applications.

    The ability to image with UV is of strategic and astrophysical interest
    as well as important for industrial and biomedical applications.

    In addition to determining how rugged and reliable devices are in
    real-world applications, the scientists said further work is needed to
    optimize how the materials are assembled over large area substrates,
    in a process of depositing crystalline materials into a thin film
    called epitaxy.

    On the nanoscale, Nath said a better understanding can show how these
    devices can achieve superior performance by optimizing the arrangement
    of the atoms in the lattice of the semiconductors.

    The researchers introduce a new benchmark for comparing photodetectors
    by accounting for gain, noise, and bandwidth, rather than the oft-cited parameters of photo-to-dark current ratio, responsivity, transient
    responses, and others.

    "Further improvement in these device performance parameters isn't going
    to help mature this technology for real-world applications," Nath said.

    "It's high time now for the community to have a pull from the industry
    and strategic sector so that device and material engineers can start
    working with imaging and systems groups to actually develop focal plane
    arrays and to integrate these with front-end electronics for real-life
    testing and applications."

    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Institute_of_Physics. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Anisha Kalra, Usman Ul Muazzam, R. Muralidharan, Srinivasan
    Raghavan,
    Digbijoy N. Nath. The road ahead for ultrawide bandgap solar-blind
    UV photodetectors. Journal of Applied Physics, 2022; 131 (15):
    150901 DOI: 10.1063/5.0082348 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220419112410.htm

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