Self-catalyst β-Ga2O3 semiconductor lateral nanowire networks synthesis on the insulating substrate for deep ultraviolet photodetectors

Monoclinic gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) is a super-wide bandgap semiconductor with excellent chemical and thermal stability, which is an ideal candidate for detecting deep ultraviolet (DUV) radiation (100–280 nm). The growth of β-Ga2O3 is challenging and most methods require Au as the catalyst and a long reacting time (more than 1 hour). In this work, the self-catalyst β-Ga2O3 lateral nanowire networks were synthesized on an insulating substrate rapidly by a simple low-cost Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) method. A thin film of β-Ga2O3 nanowire networks was synthesized within a reacting time of 15 minutes, which possesses a huge possibility for the rapid growth of β-Ga2O3 metal oxide nanowires networks and application in the future solar-blind photodetector. MSM (metal–semiconductor–metal) photodetectors based on the β-Ga2O3 nanowire networks revealed fast response (on–off ratios is about 103), which is attributed to the unique cross-junction barrier-dominated conductance of the nanowire networks. In addition, the self-catalyst β-Ga2O3 nanowires grown on insulating SiO2 are achieved and could be expected to find important applications in a bottom-up way of fabricating the next generation semiconductor nanoelectronics.