MgO/GaSe_0.5S_0.5 Heterojunction as Photodiodes and Microwave Resonators

Abstract

In this paper, a multifunctional operating optoelectronic device that suits visible light (VLC) and microwave communication systems is designed and characterized. The device which is composed of p-type MgO and n-type GaSe0.5S0.5 heterojunction is characterized by means of optical absorbance in the incident light energy (E) region of 3.5-1.1 eV, dark and illuminated current (I)-voltage (V) characteristics, and impedance spectra in the frequency range of 1M-1.8 GHz. Four types of lasers which generate light of wavelengths 406, 632, 850, and 1550 nm are used to excite the active region of the device. The device was also illuminated by non-monochromatic light. The incident light power was varied in the range of 1.12-10.17 mu W. It was observed that the heterojunction exhibits an optical energy bandgap (E-g) of 1.85 eV. For laser excitation with E > Eg, the photosensitivity (S) exceeds 67 while it is less than unity for excitations with E < Eg. These behaviors are assigned to the intrinsic and extrinsic nature of absorption, respectively. In addition, S increases as a result of energy barrier height lowering with increasing light power. On the other hand, when the device was excited with ac signal, the capacitance and impedance of the device displayed a resonance-antiresonance property associated with negative differential resistance and very high signal quality factor (10(3)) above 1.37 GHz. The bandwidth of the two resonance-antiresonance peaks is 319 and 12.6 MHz at 1.475 and 1.649 GHz, respectively. These results are attractive for using the heterojunction in VLC and microwave communication technologies.