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03/05/2026
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Duong, M. D., Mai, D. M. D., Nguyen, T. L., Hoang-Nguyen, Q.-A., & Do, H. B. (2026). Optimizing Ga₂O₃ nanorod morphology by controlling hydrothermal reaction time for uvc photodetection. Dong Thap University Journal of Science, Online First, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.52714/dthu.ns.3329.2004
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Optimizing Ga₂O₃ nanorod morphology by controlling hydrothermal reaction time for uvc photodetection
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Abstract
β-Ga₂O₃ nanorods were synthesized via a hydrothermal method followed by post-annealing at 910 oC in air, where reaction time strongly influences nanorod morphology. Longer hydrothermal durations increase the length of the nanorods but also induce their aggregation, whereas a reaction time of 7.5 h yields an optimal balance between increased nanorod length and reduced aggregation. After calcination at 910 oC, GaOOH is fully converted to monoclinic β-Ga₂O₃, with FTIR confirming Ga–O formation and reduced hydroxyl groups. The GO/β-Ga₂O₃ sensor was then fabricated using β-Ga₂O₃ powder, exhibiting stable switching under 254 nm illumination, with a responsivity of 2.06×10⁻² A W⁻¹ and response times of 1.6/2.7 s at 10 V. These results highlight the potential of β-Ga₂O₃ nanorods for UV sensing applications.
Keywords
β-Ga2O3 nanorods, graphene oxide, hydrothermal method, UVC optical sensors, wide band gap materials
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
References
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Do, H.-B., Phan-Gia, A.-V., Nguyen, V. Q., & De Souza, M. M. (2022). Optimization of normally-off β-Ga2O3 MOSFET with high Ion and BFOM: A TCAD study. AIP Advances, 12(6). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0094418
Feng, W., Wang, X., Zhang, J., Wang, L., Zheng, W., Hu, P., Cao, W., & Yang, B. (2014). Synthesis of two-dimensional β-Ga2O3 nanosheets for high-performance solar blind photodetectors. Journal of Materials Chemistry C 2(17), 3254-3259.
Galazka, Z., Uecker, R., Klimm, D., Irmscher, K., Naumann, M., Pietsch, M., Kwasniewski, A., Bertram, R., Ganschow, S., & Bickermann, M. (2017). Scaling-Up of Bulk β-Ga2O3 Single Crystals by the Czochralski Method. ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, 6(2), Q3007. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0021702jss
Guo, D., Xie, G., & Luo, J. (2013). Mechanical properties of nanoparticles: basics and applications. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 47(1), 013001.
Hailin, M., & Yan, L. (2013). One-Step Preparation of β-Ga2O3 Nanomaterial and Research the Electrical Transport Properties at High Temperature. Rare Metal Materials and Engineering, 42(11), 2245-2247.
Hwang, W. S., Verma, A., Peelaers, H., Protasenko, V., Rouvimov, S., Seabaugh, A., Haensch, W., de Walle, C. V., Galazka, Z., & Albrecht, M. (2014). High-voltage field effect transistors with wide-bandgap β-Ga2O3 nanomembranes. Applied Physics Letters, 104(20).
Kang, B., Mang, S., Song, K., Lee, K., & Yoon, D. (2014). Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of uniform β-Ga2O3 hollow nanostructures by carbon nanospheres. J. Ceram. Process. Res, 15(3), 200-203.
Khan, A., Jadwisienczak, W. M., & Kordesch, M. E. (2006). One-step preparation of ultra-wide β-Ga2O3 microbelts and their photoluminescence study. Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures, 35(1), 207-211.
Khanh, N., Do, H.-B., Nguyen, T.-H., Ngo, T.-H.-L., Phan-Gia, A.-V., Tran, T. T. V., De Souza, M. M., Le, H.-M., Linh, L., Nawaz, M. H., Chuang, F.-C., Pham, P. V., & Nguyen Dang, N. (2026). Defect-Controlled Photoresponse in GaOOH/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites for Ultraviolet-C Photodetectors. ACS Applied Electronic Materials, 8(9), 4336-4342. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaelm.6c00519
Kokubun, Y., Miura, K., Endo, F., & Nakagomi, S. (2007). Sol-gel prepared β-Ga2O3 thin films for ultraviolet photodetectors. Applied Physics Letters, 90(3).
Kuramata, A., Koshi, K., Watanabe, S., Yamaoka, Y., Masui, T., & Yamakoshi, S. (2016). High-quality β-Ga2O3 single crystals grown by edge-defined film-fed growth. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 55(12), 1202A1202. https://doi.org/10.7567/jjap.55.1202a2
Kwon, Y., Lee, G., Oh, S., Kim, J., Pearton, S. J., & Ren, F. (2017). Tuning the thickness of exfoliated quasi-two-dimensional β-Ga2O3 flakes by plasma etching. Applied Physics Letters, 110(13).
Lee, E. J., Ribeiro, C., Longo, E., & Leite, E. R. (2005). Oriented attachment: An effective mechanism in the formation of anisotropic nanocrystals. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 109(44), 20842-20846.
Li, G., Peng, C., Li, C., Yang, P., Hou, Z., Fan, Y., Cheng, Z., & Lin, J. (2010). Shape-controllable synthesis and morphology-dependent luminescence properties of GaOOH: Dy3+ and β-Ga2O3: Dy3+. Inorganic Chemistry, 49(4), 1449-1457.
Mao, L., Wang, X., Huang, C., Ma, Y., Qin, F., Lu, W., Zhu, G., Shi, Z., Cui, Q., & Xu, C. (2025). Controllable hydrothermal synthesis of 1D β-Ga2O3 for solar-blind ultraviolet photodetection. Nanomaterials, 15(5), 402. https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/15/5/402
Mi, W., Ma, J., Luan, C., Lv, Y., Xiao, H., & Li, Z. (2012). Characterization of β-Ga2O3 epitaxial films grown on MgO (111) substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Materials Letters, 87, 109-112. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2012.07.106
Oh, S., Kim, J., Ren, F., Pearton, S. J., & Kim, J. (2016). Quasi-two-dimensional β-gallium oxide solar-blind photodetectors with ultrahigh responsivity. Journal of Materials Chemistry C 4(39), 9245-9250.
Pearton, S. J., Yang, J., Cary, P. H., IV, Ren, F., Kim, J., Tadjer, M. J., & Mastro, M. A. (2018). A review of Ga2O3 materials, processing, and devices. Applied Physics Reviews, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5006941
Pilliadugula, R., & Krishnan, N. G. (2018). Gas sensing performance of GaOOH and β-Ga2O3 synthesized by hydrothermal method: a comparison. Materials Research Express, 6(2), 025027.
Qian, H.-S., Gunawan, P., Zhang, Y.-X., Lin, G.-F., Zheng, J.-W., & Xu, R. (2008). Template-free synthesis of highly uniform α-GaOOH spindles and conversion to α-Ga2O3 and β-Ga2O3. Crystal Growth and Design, 8(4), 1282-1287.
Reddy, L. S., Ko, Y. H., & Yu, J. S. (2015). Hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic property of β-Ga2O3 nanorods. Nanoscale Research Letters, 10, 1-7.
Ryou, H., Yoo, T. H., Yoon, Y., Lee, I. G., Shin, M., Cho, J., Cho, B. J., & Hwang, W. S. (2020). Hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic property of Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 nanostructure. ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, 9(4), 045009. https://doi.org/10.1149/2162-8777/ab8b4b
Şenaslan, F., Taşdemir, M., & Çelik, A. (2021). Effect of working pressure and post-annealing on structural, optical and electrical properties of p-type NiO thin films produced by RF magnetron sputtering technique. Applied Physics A, 127(10), 739. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04901-2
Sharma, S., & Sunkara, M. K. (2002). Direct synthesis of gallium oxide tubes, nanowires, and nanopaintbrushes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 124(41), 12288-12293.
Shi, F., & Qiao, H. (2020). Influence of hydrothermal reaction time on crystal qualities and photoluminescence properties of β-Ga2O3 nanorods. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 31, 20223-20231.
Singh, N. S., Mia, A. K., & Giri, P. (2024). Role of oxygen functional groups and attachment of Au nanoparticles on graphene oxide sheets for improved photodetection performance. Nanoscale Advances, 6(8), 2136-2148. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3NA01120H
Wang, X., Qiao, H., Liu, T., Song, F., An, Z., Xu, Y., Zhang, L., & Shi, F. (2022). Ultraviolet photoluminescence of β-Ga2O3 microparticles synthesized by hydrothermal method. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 33(16), 13040-13050.
Yang, J. J., Zhao, Y., & Frost, R. L. (2009). Infrared and infrared emission spectroscopy of gallium oxide α-GaO (OH) nanostructures. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 74(2), 398-403.
Yoon, Y., Han, K. I., Kim, B. H., Lee, I. G., Kim, Y., Kim, J. P., & Hwang, W. S. (2018). Formation of β-Ga2O3 nanofibers of sub-50 nm diameter synthesized by electrospinning method. Thin Solid Films, 645, 358-362.
Zhao, W., Yang, Y., Hao, R., Liu, F., Wang, Y., Tan, M., Tang, J., Ren, D., & Zhao, D. (2011). Synthesis of mesoporous β-Ga2O3 nanorods using PEG as template: Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic properties. Journal of Hazardous materials, 192(3), 1548-1554.
Chen, X., Ren, F., Gu, S., & Ye, J. (2019). Review of gallium-oxide-based solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors. Photonics Research, 7(4), 381-415. https://doi.org/10.1364/prj.7.000381
Chou, H.-Y., Yadlapalli, B. K., Yen, C.-C., Singh, A. K., Chiang, J.-L., & Wuu, D.-S. (2023). Ga2O3 nanorods synthesized by hydrothermal method for dual-functional sensing of pH value and glucose. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 363, 114695. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2023.114695
Do, H.-B., Le, D.-N., Nguyen, T.-H., Nguyen, V. T., Phan-Gia, A.-V., Hien, T. D., Le, H.-M., Pham, P. V., De Souza, M. M., & Nguyen Dang, N. (2024). Recycling of reduced graphene oxide from graphite rods in disposable zinc battery applicable to optical sensing. Ceramics International, 50(21, Part C), 43754-43762. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.08.228
Do, H.-B., Nguyen, T.-H., Ngo, T.-H.-L., Phan-Gia, A.-V., Nguyen-Thuy-Ngoc, T., Huynh, T.-L., & Nguyen-Dang, N. (2026). Ga2O3-graphene oxide hybrid optical sensor. Materials Letters, 404, 139602. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2025.139602
Do, H.-B., Phan-Gia, A.-V., Nguyen, V. Q., & De Souza, M. M. (2022). Optimization of normally-off β-Ga2O3 MOSFET with high Ion and BFOM: A TCAD study. AIP Advances, 12(6). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0094418
Feng, W., Wang, X., Zhang, J., Wang, L., Zheng, W., Hu, P., Cao, W., & Yang, B. (2014). Synthesis of two-dimensional β-Ga2O3 nanosheets for high-performance solar blind photodetectors. Journal of Materials Chemistry C 2(17), 3254-3259.
Galazka, Z., Uecker, R., Klimm, D., Irmscher, K., Naumann, M., Pietsch, M., Kwasniewski, A., Bertram, R., Ganschow, S., & Bickermann, M. (2017). Scaling-Up of Bulk β-Ga2O3 Single Crystals by the Czochralski Method. ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, 6(2), Q3007. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0021702jss
Guo, D., Xie, G., & Luo, J. (2013). Mechanical properties of nanoparticles: basics and applications. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 47(1), 013001.
Hailin, M., & Yan, L. (2013). One-Step Preparation of β-Ga2O3 Nanomaterial and Research the Electrical Transport Properties at High Temperature. Rare Metal Materials and Engineering, 42(11), 2245-2247.
Hwang, W. S., Verma, A., Peelaers, H., Protasenko, V., Rouvimov, S., Seabaugh, A., Haensch, W., de Walle, C. V., Galazka, Z., & Albrecht, M. (2014). High-voltage field effect transistors with wide-bandgap β-Ga2O3 nanomembranes. Applied Physics Letters, 104(20).
Kang, B., Mang, S., Song, K., Lee, K., & Yoon, D. (2014). Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of uniform β-Ga2O3 hollow nanostructures by carbon nanospheres. J. Ceram. Process. Res, 15(3), 200-203.
Khan, A., Jadwisienczak, W. M., & Kordesch, M. E. (2006). One-step preparation of ultra-wide β-Ga2O3 microbelts and their photoluminescence study. Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures, 35(1), 207-211.
Khanh, N., Do, H.-B., Nguyen, T.-H., Ngo, T.-H.-L., Phan-Gia, A.-V., Tran, T. T. V., De Souza, M. M., Le, H.-M., Linh, L., Nawaz, M. H., Chuang, F.-C., Pham, P. V., & Nguyen Dang, N. (2026). Defect-Controlled Photoresponse in GaOOH/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites for Ultraviolet-C Photodetectors. ACS Applied Electronic Materials, 8(9), 4336-4342. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaelm.6c00519
Kokubun, Y., Miura, K., Endo, F., & Nakagomi, S. (2007). Sol-gel prepared β-Ga2O3 thin films for ultraviolet photodetectors. Applied Physics Letters, 90(3).
Kuramata, A., Koshi, K., Watanabe, S., Yamaoka, Y., Masui, T., & Yamakoshi, S. (2016). High-quality β-Ga2O3 single crystals grown by edge-defined film-fed growth. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 55(12), 1202A1202. https://doi.org/10.7567/jjap.55.1202a2
Kwon, Y., Lee, G., Oh, S., Kim, J., Pearton, S. J., & Ren, F. (2017). Tuning the thickness of exfoliated quasi-two-dimensional β-Ga2O3 flakes by plasma etching. Applied Physics Letters, 110(13).
Lee, E. J., Ribeiro, C., Longo, E., & Leite, E. R. (2005). Oriented attachment: An effective mechanism in the formation of anisotropic nanocrystals. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 109(44), 20842-20846.
Li, G., Peng, C., Li, C., Yang, P., Hou, Z., Fan, Y., Cheng, Z., & Lin, J. (2010). Shape-controllable synthesis and morphology-dependent luminescence properties of GaOOH: Dy3+ and β-Ga2O3: Dy3+. Inorganic Chemistry, 49(4), 1449-1457.
Mao, L., Wang, X., Huang, C., Ma, Y., Qin, F., Lu, W., Zhu, G., Shi, Z., Cui, Q., & Xu, C. (2025). Controllable hydrothermal synthesis of 1D β-Ga2O3 for solar-blind ultraviolet photodetection. Nanomaterials, 15(5), 402. https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/15/5/402
Mi, W., Ma, J., Luan, C., Lv, Y., Xiao, H., & Li, Z. (2012). Characterization of β-Ga2O3 epitaxial films grown on MgO (111) substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Materials Letters, 87, 109-112. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2012.07.106
Oh, S., Kim, J., Ren, F., Pearton, S. J., & Kim, J. (2016). Quasi-two-dimensional β-gallium oxide solar-blind photodetectors with ultrahigh responsivity. Journal of Materials Chemistry C 4(39), 9245-9250.
Pearton, S. J., Yang, J., Cary, P. H., IV, Ren, F., Kim, J., Tadjer, M. J., & Mastro, M. A. (2018). A review of Ga2O3 materials, processing, and devices. Applied Physics Reviews, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5006941
Pilliadugula, R., & Krishnan, N. G. (2018). Gas sensing performance of GaOOH and β-Ga2O3 synthesized by hydrothermal method: a comparison. Materials Research Express, 6(2), 025027.
Qian, H.-S., Gunawan, P., Zhang, Y.-X., Lin, G.-F., Zheng, J.-W., & Xu, R. (2008). Template-free synthesis of highly uniform α-GaOOH spindles and conversion to α-Ga2O3 and β-Ga2O3. Crystal Growth and Design, 8(4), 1282-1287.
Reddy, L. S., Ko, Y. H., & Yu, J. S. (2015). Hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic property of β-Ga2O3 nanorods. Nanoscale Research Letters, 10, 1-7.
Ryou, H., Yoo, T. H., Yoon, Y., Lee, I. G., Shin, M., Cho, J., Cho, B. J., & Hwang, W. S. (2020). Hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic property of Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 nanostructure. ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, 9(4), 045009. https://doi.org/10.1149/2162-8777/ab8b4b
Şenaslan, F., Taşdemir, M., & Çelik, A. (2021). Effect of working pressure and post-annealing on structural, optical and electrical properties of p-type NiO thin films produced by RF magnetron sputtering technique. Applied Physics A, 127(10), 739. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04901-2
Sharma, S., & Sunkara, M. K. (2002). Direct synthesis of gallium oxide tubes, nanowires, and nanopaintbrushes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 124(41), 12288-12293.
Shi, F., & Qiao, H. (2020). Influence of hydrothermal reaction time on crystal qualities and photoluminescence properties of β-Ga2O3 nanorods. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 31, 20223-20231.
Singh, N. S., Mia, A. K., & Giri, P. (2024). Role of oxygen functional groups and attachment of Au nanoparticles on graphene oxide sheets for improved photodetection performance. Nanoscale Advances, 6(8), 2136-2148. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3NA01120H
Wang, X., Qiao, H., Liu, T., Song, F., An, Z., Xu, Y., Zhang, L., & Shi, F. (2022). Ultraviolet photoluminescence of β-Ga2O3 microparticles synthesized by hydrothermal method. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 33(16), 13040-13050.
Yang, J. J., Zhao, Y., & Frost, R. L. (2009). Infrared and infrared emission spectroscopy of gallium oxide α-GaO (OH) nanostructures. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 74(2), 398-403.
Yoon, Y., Han, K. I., Kim, B. H., Lee, I. G., Kim, Y., Kim, J. P., & Hwang, W. S. (2018). Formation of β-Ga2O3 nanofibers of sub-50 nm diameter synthesized by electrospinning method. Thin Solid Films, 645, 358-362.
Zhao, W., Yang, Y., Hao, R., Liu, F., Wang, Y., Tan, M., Tang, J., Ren, D., & Zhao, D. (2011). Synthesis of mesoporous β-Ga2O3 nanorods using PEG as template: Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic properties. Journal of Hazardous materials, 192(3), 1548-1554.