Fabrication and Characterization of Ni-Doped ZnO Nanorod Arrays for UV Photodetector Application

Abstract

In this work, the structure morphologies, lattices, and optical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) with various amounts of nickel (Ni) dopants were investigated and explored. The 100 nm ZnO seed layer was grown on the Corning glass substrate by the radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique, and the chemical bath deposition (CBD) method was used to grow NR arrays. It was found that the Ni concentration of the sample is 1.06 at% by EDX spectra examination. All the NRs exhibited a hexagonal wurtzite structure and preferentially grew along the c-axis on the substrate. Additionally, the ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors (PDs) with Ni-doped ZnO (NZO) NRs based on metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure were fabricated through a photolithography process. Then, such a sample was annealed at 500 °C to obtain good performance and reduced oxygen vacancy (∼560 nm). The results showed that the NZO NRs were with an excellent photosensitivity for UV PD applications and a faster rise/decay time than pure ZnO. Furthermore, with a 3 V applied bias and 380 nm UV illumination, the sensitivities of the fabricated ZnO PDs with different Ni contents (0, 4, and 8 mM) were 71.45, 393.04, and 238.75, respectively.

Using Novel Semiconductor Features to Construct Advanced ZnO Nanowires-Based Ultraviolet Photodetectors: A Brief Review

“…The physics mechanism for high sensitivity and recovery speed can be explained by the photon-induced oxygen desorption from the surface of the ZnO NWs which has been described elsewhere [34]. Cheng et al reported an individual ZnO NW-based SBUV-VIS-NIR photodetector with MSM structure and two back-to-back Schottky junctions [101]. However, the broad-spectral-response property was not explained by the photon-induced oxygen desorption.…”

“…The concentration of free electrons in the conduction band was enhanced after Fe-doping, resulting in increased responsivity. Furthermore, the hole-trapping mechanism through oxygen adsorption and desorption in Fe-doped ZnO NRs can also improve the responsivity of the prepared photodetector [101], [102]. Jayalakshmi reported the performance of a plasmonic nickel (Ni) nanoparticles (NPs)-decorated ZnO NRs-based UV photodetector.…”

Characteristics of Metal–Semiconductor–Metal Ultraviolet Photodetectors Based on Pure ZnO/Amorphous IGZO Thin-Film Structures

“…ZnO is a good crystallinity material. It has a hexagonal structure, and the lattice constants are a = 3:24 -3:26 Å and c = 5:13 -5:43 Å [7][8][9]. In addition, the lowest surface free energy of ZnO thin films lies on the (002) plane, and a good c-axis orientation can be obtained at a low temperature when ZnO thin films are grown.…”

Fabrication of Ultraviolet Photodetectors Based on Fe-Doped ZnO Nanorod Structures

“…Moreover, it has a hexagonal structure, and the properties of lattice constants are a = 3.24–3.26 Å and c = 5.13–5.43 Å [ 9 , 10 ]. ZnO has attracted tremendous and wide interest in different fields, such as field-emission displays (FEDs), PDs, gas sensors, and pH sensors [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Therefore, ZnO has gradually become a promising material for various applications in modern times.…”