Rectifying diode characteristics in electrophoretic deposited β-Ga2O3/NiO three-dimensional porous heterojunctions

The work showcases the efficacy of simple electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique towards the formation of three-dimensional porous β-Ga 2 O 3 /NiO n-p diode heterojunctions. The controlled oxidation of commercial nickel foam is achieved via., conventional hydrothermal technique to yield nanoscale NiO. The as-formed NiO/Ni foams are then used as working electrode in a typical EPD set-up to deposit two different β-Ga 2 O 3 morphological particles at an applied voltage of 120 V for a fixed durations of 2 and 20 min . The effect of NiO thickness, deposition time and the morphology of β-Ga 2 O 3 is evaluated for the different β-Ga 2 O 3 /NiO porous heterojunctions via., current-voltage (I-V) rectification characteristics. The decrease in β-Ga 2 O 3 particle size from micron to nanoscale resulted in better electronic charge transport across the heterojunction. Accordingly, the nano-sized β-Ga 2 O 3 demonstrated reliable electronic transport with significantly higher rectification ratios (~107) , and no signs of electrical breakdown are observed even at the highest applied voltage of ±40 V . The findings indicate the low-cost EPD technique can be efficiently used for the fabrication of solution-based different morphological featured three-dimensional n-p heterojunctions, which can be tailored to cater wide range of optoelectronic and sensing based applications.