Effects of persistent photoconductivity on the characteristic performance of an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure ultraviolet detector

Journal Article · Mon Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.121485· OSTI ID:627955

Li, J Z; Lin, J Y; Jiang, H X ^[1]; Khan, M A ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas66506-2601 (United States)
2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina29208 (United States)

Photocurrent (PC) transient characteristics of an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure UV detector have been studied. We observed that the PC transients of the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure depended strongly on its initial conditions. Under a pulsed laser excitation, the PC responsivity, dark current level, and decay time constant all increased progressively with the number of successive excitation pulses and eventually saturated at constant values after about 30 pulsed laser exposures. Our results indicate that the observed PC transient characteristics are directly correlated with the effect of persistent photoconductivity in the two-dimensional electron gas region caused by deep level impurities and can have a significant influence on the performance of the UV photodetectors based on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. {copyright} {ital 1998 American Institute of Physics.}

• OSTI ID: 627955
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 72; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

44 INSTRUMENTATION
INCLUDING NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE DETECTORS
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
ALUMINIUM NITRIDES
GALLIUM NITRIDES
HETEROJUNCTIONS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY
SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
TRANSIENTS
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION