【Device Papers】Revealing the photo-sensing capabilities of a super-flexible, paper-based wearable a-Ga₂O₃ self-driven ultra-high-performance solar-blind photodetector

      Researchers from the Academy of Scientific & Innovative Research (AcSIR) have published a dissertation titled "Revealing the photo-sensing capabilities of a super-flexible, paper-based wearable a-Ga₂O₃ self-driven ultra-high-performance solar-blind photodetector" in Chemical Engineering Journal.

Abstract

      To address the growing demand for wearable optoelectronic devices in secure communication, environmental monitoring, biomedical, and military applications, the development of self-driven solar-blind photodetectors (SBPDs) is crucial. This work reports the fabrication of super-flexible, wearable, and ultralight self-driven SBPD based on an amorphous-Ga₂O₃ film grown on various paper substrates (including glossy, parchment, and 75 GSM paper) with interdigitated Pt electrodes using a magnetron sputtering. The developed device on glossy, parchment, and 75 GSM paper exhibits superior responsivity of 8.30 mAW⁻¹, 14.53 mAW⁻¹, and 20.96 mAW^−1, along with a fast response speed of 115/118 ms, 90/95 ms, and 65/67 ms for 266 nm light irradiation under self-driven conditions. Comparatively superior performance is recorded for 75 GSM paper-based device, owing to their surface roughness, porosity, and microfibrous structure, which enhance light absorption in the device. In addition, the developed device shows an ultraviolet C-to-visible rejection ratio of over ∼ 10⁶, a high specific detectivity of 2.01 × 10¹¹ Jones, a high responsivity of 1.38 × 10³ mAW⁻¹ and a low noise equivalent power of 2.44 × 10^-13 WHz^−1/2 at a 5 V bias on 75 GSM paper. The photocurrent remains close to its initial values even when bent to l_o/l = 5, demonstrating outstanding flexibility, bending endurance, and deformability. The performance of the self-driven PD remains stable over two months and steady up to 600 bending cycles. Further, the fabricated device underwent thorough testing across various wearable applications, and the analysis demonstrates discernible alteration in its performance across real-world scenarios. This technique paves the way for developing self-driven paper-based SBPDs with high-performance, wearable, next-generation flexible optoelectronic device applications.

DOI：

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.153910