Peres, MarcoFernandes, A.J.S.Oliveira, F.J.Alves, L.C.Alves, E.Monteiro, T.S.Cardoso, S.Alonso Orts, ManuelNogales Díaz, EmilioMéndez Martín, María Bianchi2023-06-172023-06-172019-06-242162-876910.1149/2.0441907jsshttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/13597© The Authors 2019. Published by ECS. Artículo firmado por más de diez autores. This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the projects UID/FIS/50010/2019 and PTDC/CTM-CTM/28011/2017, LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-028011.A thermal actuator based on thin flexible lamellas of Ga_2O_3 was designed in order to demonstrate the potential of this semiconductor for micro-opto-electro-mechanical applications (MOEMs). The working principle of these devices is based on the thermal expansion that induces a vertical movement resultant of the lamella elongation due the self-heating/Joule effect. Upon excitation with photons, electrons or ions, intrinsic luminescence bands associated with self-trapped excitons and donor-acceptor pair recombination dominate the emission spectrum. When a current passes through the device, simultaneously with the thermal expansion, this luminescence is strongly quenched. Based on systematic Photoluminescence and Raman studies as a function of temperature and as a function of the applied power it is demonstrated that the observed luminescence quenching is directly related with the Joule heating effect. This work presents for the first time a thermal actuator based on Ga_2O_3 and it intends to be a stimulus for future works on MOEMs applications based on this semiconductor.engAtribución 3.0 Españahttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/journal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1149/2.0441907jsshttp://jss.ecsdl.orgopen access538.9Single-crystalsOptical-absorptionLuminescenceFieldFísica de materialesFísica del estado sólido2211 Física del Estado Sólido