Low noise <i>p-</i>π<i>-n</i> GaN ultraviolet photodetectors

We report on the fabrication and characterization of p-π-n GaN ultraviolet detectors. The peak responsivity at ∼363 nm is measured to be 0.1 A/W in the photovoltaic mode, and 0.14 A/W with a bias of −15 V. Speed measurements have shown the photoresponse to be RC-limited with the response time decreasing from 17.4 ns at zero bias to 10.3 ns at −6 V bias. For a 200×200 μ m2 device, we measure the dark current to be 2.7 pA at −3 V bias, and a noise density of less than 10−25 A2/Hz, the noise floor of the measurement. Extrapolating the noise data taken at higher reverse biases, we estimate the noise equivalent power to be 6.6×10−15 W/Hz1/2.