4H-SiC ultraviolet p-in photodiodes with four different epitaxial structures were fabricated. The experimental results prove that both a thin P +-type Ohmic contact layer and a thick intrinsic layer were indispensible for a high-performance ultraviolet p-in photodiode. A 4H-SiC p-in photodiode with responsivity as high as 0.139 A/W at 278 nm incident wavelength was achieved. Meanwhile, within a certain wavelength range, the peak response wavelength of an ultraviolet p-in photodiode would be modulated by properly varying the thicknesses of P +-type layer and the intrinsic layer. Moreover, the theoretical calculation was carried out to further authorise the experimental results.
Graphene/4H-SiC/graphene photodetectors, as well as graphene/4H-SiC heterojunctions, have been fabricated and characterized by utilizing a heating decomposition method. High-quality graphene has been grown on an n− doped 4H-SiC substrate along with a 900 °C hydrogenation process. Temperature-dependent current–voltage characteristics of the graphene/4H-SiC heterojunction have been measured to obtain the Schottky barrier height. The bias-dependent Schottky barrier height (varying from 0.43 eV to 0.41 eV) was found and could result mainly from the electrical doping and Fermi level shifting in graphene. With the increase in the bias, the unsaturated dark current of graphene/4H-SiC/graphene photodetectors indicated the electron diffusion at the graphene/4H-SiC heterojunction. The increased responsivity peaks come from the absorption of the graphene layer in the UV range and the long lifetime of photo-induced thermal electronic carriers being contributed to the bandgap shrinking of graphene and reduction of the Schottky barrier height. The photodetectors biased at 6 V showed a responsivity of 40 A/W, an external quantum efficiency of 1.38 × 104%, and a detectivity of 9 × 1011 Jones, which are larger than those of previously reported similar devices based on graphene/SiO2 or graphene/SiC.
We report a systematic study of a graphene-wrapped plasmonic optical modulator with a high modulation depth. The optical modulator consists of a silver (Ag) nanowire as a single mode plasmonic waveguide being wrapped with a graphene monolayer as an electrically controllable absorbing material. While a thin dielectric spacing layer is used to electrically isolate the Ag nanowire from the graphene monolayer, we find it further promotes higher optical absorption by manipulating a strong electric field at its outer surface, where the graphene layer is located. By optimizing the dielectric layer thickness as well as the Ag nanowire radius, a strong optical modulation of 0.46 dB μm−1 with a high-speed characteristic at the operating wavelength of 785 nm is achieved. This design is further implemented at the telecommunication wavelength (1550 nm) with an optimized modulation depth of 1.07 dB μm−1.
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