Piezo-phototronic Effect Enhanced Visible/UV Photodetector of a Carbon-Fiber/ZnO-CdS Double-Shell Microwire

Abstract

A branched ZnO-CdS double-shell NW array on the surface of a carbon fiber (CF/ZnO-CdS) was successfully synthesized via a facile two-step hydrothermal method. Based on a single CF/ZnO-CdS wire on a polymer substrate, a flexible photodetector was fabricated, which exhibited ultrahigh photon responsivity under illuminations of blue light (1.11 × 10(5) A/W, 8.99 × 10(-8) W/cm(2), 480 nm), green light (3.83 × 10(4) A/W, 4.48 × 10(-8) W/cm(2), 548 nm), and UV light (1.94 × 10(5) A/W, 1.59 × 10(-8) W/cm(2), 372 nm), respectively. The responsivity of this broadband photon sensor was enhanced further by as much as 60% when the device was subjected to a -0.38% compressive strain. This is because the strain induced a piezopotential in ZnO, which tunes the barrier height at the ZnO-CdS heterojunction interface, leading to an optimized optoelectronic performance. This work demonstrates a promising application of piezo-phototronic effect in nanoheterojunction array based photon detectors.

Development and progress in piezotronics

“…As for the optical properties, notable factors include the materials' band gaps and their corresponding absorption peaks. With ZnO, GaN in the UV range, CdS in the visible range and CdTe in the IR range, the optical spectrum is well covered and we can select materials according to needs to build photo detectors, LEDs and solar cells and then use strain induced piezopotential to modulate junction interfaces for novel effects and functions [54,55]. As for chemical properties, the level of chemical activeness and inertness is usually considered.…”

Tribotronic Phototransistor for Enhanced Photodetection and Hybrid Energy Harvesting

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wileyonlinelibrary.comAs a three-way coupling effect among semiconductor, piezoelectricity, and photoexcitation, the piezo-phototronic effect was fi rst proposed in 2010 [ 6 ] and has demonstrated strain-enhanced light-emitting diodes, [ 7,8 ] photodetectors, [ 9,10 ] and photocells [ 11,12 ] by modulating the charge carrier transport, separation, or recombination through strain-induced piezoelectric polarization charges. Recently, the invention of a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has provided not only sustainable power sources [13][14][15][16][17] and self-powered devices, [18][19][20] but also proposed triboelectric-charge-controlled devices [21][22][23] and opened up a new research fi eld of tribotronics.

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Tuning carrier lifetime in InGaN/GaN LEDs via strain compensation for high-speed visible light communication

“…In addition to Si and Ge semiconductors, compound semiconductor materials (like ZnO, CdS, and GaN) have been intensively studied and successfully applied in many novel devices such as piezoelectric nanogenerators (NGs)1234, sensors567, photodetectors8910, high-electron-mobility transistors1112, photovoltaic cells1314, and logic devices1516. Due to their lack of crystal lattice symmetry, most compound semiconductors also have a strong piezoelectric property.…”