Impact of thickness on optoelectronic properties of α-MoO3 film photodetectors: Integrating first-principles calculations with experimental analysis

This study focused on investigating the optoelectronic properties of molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3) thin films using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique through different cycle numbers and theoretical investigation. Initial band gap calculations using standard DFT with GGA-PBE resulted in a value of 1.19 eV, which deviated significantly from experimental measurements. The GGA + U method with Hubbard U corrections was applied for the first time to improve the accuracy. This refinement led to a more precise band gap value of 3.09 eV, closely matching previously reported experimental data. The electronic parameters of the α-MoO3 photodetector, such as ideality factor (n), barrier height (Φ0), and series resistance (Rs), were analyzed using the thermionic emission theory and confirmed by Cheung and Nord's methods. The results demonstrated that the sample deposited with 100 pulses exhibited higher photodetector performance under UV illumination, despite having a lower Rs.