Recent advances in ultraviolet photodetectors

In recent years, ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors (PDs) have received much attention in the various field of research due to wide range of industrial, military, biological and environmental applications. In this paper, a special focus is given to the unique advantages of different UV PDs, current device schemes and demonstrations, novel structures and new material compounds which are used to fabrication of PDs. Additionally, we investigate numerous technical design challenges and compare characteristics of the various PD structures developed to date. Finally, we conclude this review paper with some future research directions in this field.