High-performance UV detector based on Ga-doped zinc oxide thin films

High-quality ultraviolet photoconductive detectors have been fabricated using Ga-doped zinc oxide layers grown by spray pyrolysis on glass substrates. The performance of the photoconductivity has been tested by the measurements of the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics under forward and reverse bias. The devices have been characterized to investigate the effect of buffer layer on the detector performances. The behaviour of photocurrent with respect to optical power density, wavelength and chopping time has been investigated. We achieved the highest responsivity of about 1125 A/W at 5 V bias at 365 nm peak wavelength. Our approach provides a simple and cost-effective way to fabricate high-performance ‘visible-blind’ UV detectors.