Open AccessAlGaN Photodiodes For Monitoring Solar UV Radiation
Author(s) -
Muñoz E.,
Monroy E.,
Calle F.,
Omnès F.,
Gibart P.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/1999jd900939
Subject(s) - photodiode , schottky barrier , materials science , optoelectronics , mole fraction , schottky diode , sapphire , radiation , photodetector , epitaxy , optics , diode , physics , nanotechnology , laser , layer (electronics) , thermodynamics
AlGaN‐based Schottky barrier photodiodes, aimed to monitor the solar UV radiation, have been fabricated and characterized. AlGaN semiconductor layers were grown by metal‐organic vapor phase epitaxy on sapphire substrates, and the Al mole fraction was varied between zero and 0.35. The evolution of the characteristics of these UV detectors with the Al content is presented. Schottky barrier Al x Ga l−x N photodetectors show a very fast response that is independent of the optical power, and their visible rejection ratio is higher than 10 3 . Al 0.2 Ga 0.8 N Schottky barriers are very good candidates for monitoring the UV‐B band. It is also reported that by using the proper Al mole fraction, the erythema‐weighted action of the solar UV radiation can be directly determined by AlGaN photodiodes, without any filter, for the first time.