Ultraviolet-C Photodetector Fabricated using Si-doped n-AlGaN Nanorods Grown by MOCVD

Aluminum gallium nitride (AlxGa1–xN) alloy films and nanostructures have attracted extensive research attention for ultraviolet (UV) and deep ultraviolet optoelectronic applications. However, the morphology-controlled growth of high-quality AlxGa1–xN quasi one-dimensional nanostructures has been limited by the complex multicomponent phase diagram and inhomogeneous composition distribution. Here, we demonstrated the growth of Si-doped n-type compositionally uniform Al0.45Ga0.55N nanorods employing a metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique for the application in UV-C photodetectors. A two-step growth process, namely, growth of undoped GaN seeds and subsequent growth of n-AlGaN nanorods over GaN seeds, has been developed. Various characterization techniques have been used to study the crystalline quality, orientation, and optical properties of the realized nanorods. Field emission scanning electron microscopy revealed a uniform distribution of vertically aligned n-AlGaN nanorods over the Ga...