All-printable band-edge modulated ZnO nanowire photodetectors with ultra-high detectivity

Abstract

High-performance photodetectors are critical for high-speed optical communication and environmental sensing, and flexible photodetectors can be used for a wide range of portable or wearable applications. Here we demonstrate the all-printable fabrication of polycrystalline nanowire-based high-performance photodetectors on flexible substrates. Systematic investigations have shown their ultra-high photoconductive gain, responsivity and detectivity up to 3.3 × 1017 Jones. Further analysis shows that their high performance originates from the unique band-edge modulation along the nanowire axial direction, where the existence of Schottky barriers in series leads to highly suppressed dark current of the device and also gives rise to fast photoelectric response to low-intensity optical signal owing to barrier height modulation. The discovered rationale in this work can be utilized as guideline to design high-performance photodetectors with other nanomaterial systems. The developed fabrication scheme opens up possibility for future flexible and high-performance integrated optoelectronic sensor circuitry.

An Enhanced UV–Vis–NIR an d Flexible Photodetector Based on Electrospun ZnO Nanowire Array/PbS Quantum Dots Film Heterostructure

“…ZnO NW‐based photodetectors have great potential for flexible photodetectors54, 55 which are important functional components for light‐weight, flexible optoelectronics,56, 57 however, high‐performance flexible NW photodetectors with UV to NIR response are still need to be developed 58. Benefiting from the flexibility of mica sheets and heterogeneous ZnO/PbS QDs thin film, flexible photodetectors based on ZnO/PbS QDs heterostructure were fabricated on mica by traditional device fabrication techniques as shown in the Experimental Section.…”

Porosity-induced full-range visible-light photodetection via ultrahigh broadband antireflection in ZnO nanowires

“…ZnO can be easily synthesized in various 1D nanostructures [8][9][10][11][12] including nanowires (NWs), 13 nanotubes 14 and nanorods; 15 these structures have also shown promise in various nanoscale electronic and photonic devices, 16 such as photovoltaic cells, 17 light-emitting diodes, 18 gas sensors, 19 piezoelectric nanogenerators 20 and photodetectors. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27] However, with regard to photodetection, ZnO is only considered as a good material for UV photodetection 21,[23][24][25][26][27] owing to its wide band gap, and only a few studies have enabled ZnO to achieve limited visible light photodetection through doping or heterojunction structures. 22,28,29 This study is the first to demonstrate a new mechanism for obtaining a porosity-induced graded refractive index, which results in enhanced broadband antireflection properties, can extend the inherent properties of a 1D material, for example, the wide band gap of ZnO in this case, and can modify the material to enable improved visible-light photodetection over the entire visible-light regime.…”

ZnO Nanofiber Thin‐Film Transistors with Low‐Operating Voltages

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Among these 1D nanomaterials, many novel synthesis techniques have then been developed, including chemical vapor deposition (CVD), [8][9][10] hydrothermal methods, [11][12][13] and template-assisted electrodeposition, etc; [14][15][16] however, all of these fabrication schemes come with different process-related disadvantages. For example, CVD has been widely employed for the growth of 1D semiconductor nanostructures, [17,18] in which this technique is still far from being compatible with the large-scale manufacturing platform due to the rather high fabricating cost, rigorous process control, low production throughput, and complicated subsequent device fabrication scheme.…”