An innovative family of thin‐film photodetectors optimized for the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum is presented here. The devices are made of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a‐Si:H) and silicon carbide (a‐SiC:H) on glass substrates. At room temperature, the photodetectors exhibit values of quantum efficiency of 21% in the vacuum UV and 0.08% at 750 nm, without external voltage. The great advantage of this technology lies in the possibility to produce low‐cost, large‐area arrays of photodetectors on glass or flexible substrates. All these features candidate thea‐Si/SiC:H photodetectors as possible, concurrent to specialized commercial devices. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.