【Device Papers】Tunable Pyro-Phototronic Effect by Polar Interface Engineering in Ga₂O₃

      Researchers from the Zhejiang University have published a dissertation titled " Tunable Pyro-Phototronic Effect by Polar Interface Engineering in Ga₂O₃" in Advanced Functional Materials.

Abstract

      Polar interfaces with broken inversion symmetry have garnered significant attention due to their profound influence on charge/spin distribution and propagation, leading to unconventional phenomena such as high-mobility electron gas, polar skyrmions, and interfacial pyroelectric/pyro-phototronic effects. Designing and controlling polar interfaces is crucial for developing advanced functional electronic devices. Here, a strategy of polar interface engineering is proposed by modulating the built-in electric field in Schottky junctions to generate and tune the pyro-phototronic effect in a centrosymmetric semiconductor (β-Ga₂O₃). By varying the work functions of metal electrodes and doping concentrations, the built-in electric field is effectively controlled, enabling modulation of the effective polarization and pyroelectric coefficient. Leveraging the pyro-phototronic effect, the Ga₂O₃ Schottky junction-based self-powered photodetector achieves an ultrafast response of 0.2 µs to solar-blind UV light, representing a 50-fold improvement over the control device operating with the photoconductive effect. Furthermore, five optoelectronic logic gates are realized, enabled by the bidirectional pyro-phototronic current during light switching. These findings provide a pathway for exploring novel pyro-phototronic phenomena in polar-interface-engineered semiconductors and advancing ultrafast optoelectronic detection technologies.

DOI：

https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202504294