Fabrication of h-BN solar-blind ultraviolet detectors by RF magnetron sputtering

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has become a popular material in solar-blind ultraviolet (SBUV) detection due to its ultra-wide bandgap, high optical absorption coefficient, high breakdown field strength and high thermal conductivity. However, the high deposition temperature restricts the choice of h-BN film substrates and hinders the fabrication of h-BN flexible devices. In this work, several h-BN films have been prepared by RF magnetron sputtering with B as the target at room temperature, and based on the films, SBUV detectors were also fabricated with the metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure, which exhibit an extremely low dark current (0.07 pA) and a high response (1.37 μA/W) at 3 V. These results establish the feasibility of fabricating h-BN films and SBUV detectors at room temperature.