Solar-blind ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors (PDs) have attracted tremendous attention in the environmental, industrial, military, and biological fields. As a representative III-nitride material, AlGaN alloys have broad development prospects in the field of solar-blind detection due to their superior properties, such as tunable wide bandgaps for intrinsic UV detection. In recent decades, a variety of AlGaN-based PDs have been developed to achieve high-precision solar-blind UV detection. As integrated optoelectronic technology advances, AlGaN-based focal plane arrays (FPAs) are manufactured and exhibit outstanding solar-blind imaging capability. Considering the rapid development of AlGaN detection techniques, this paper comprehensively reviews the progress on AlGaN-based solar-blind UV PDs and FPAs. First, the basic physical properties of AlGaN are presented. The epitaxy and p-type doping problems of AlGaN alloys are then discussed. Diverse PDs, including photoconductors and Schottky, metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM), p-i-n, and avalanche photodiodes (APDs), are demonstrated, and the physical mechanisms are analyzed to improve device performance. Additionally, this paper summarizes imaging technologies used with AlGaN FPAs in recent years. Benefiting from the development of AlGaN materials and optoelectronic devices, solar-blind UV detection technology is greeted with significant revolutions.

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In this work, we include the polarization effect within the AlGaN barrier into calculation of the near-surface electrical field ES underneath the Schottky contact metal which determines the field-dependent characteristics of reverse gate leakage current of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors. High-frequency capacitance-voltage measurement combined with electrostatic analysis is used to estimate ES as a function of reverse bias voltage. The resultant log(I/ES) versus ES curves over a temperature range from 293 to 453 K agree well with the predicted model of Frenkel–Poole (FP) emission of electrons up to the conductive states of threading dislocations. Around zero bias, the reverse polarization-field-induced FP emission current is balanced by a forward defect-assisted tunneling current, both of which follow the same temperature dependent characteristics.

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