Lead sulfide nanocrystals, also known as lead sulfide colloidal quantum dots (PbS CQDs), have a tunable bandgap, a large exciton Bohr radius and a wide size distribution. The high-quality PbS CQDs have shown excellent photoelectric properties in the field of infrared photodetectors. Monodisperse PbS CQDs can be successfully synthesized by hot injection method in solution, using elemental sulfur and lead oxide as reaction precursors. The synthesized CQDs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-Vis- NIR spectrophotometer. It is concluded that the PbS CQDs synthesized under the condition of 120°C and 90 min are truncated octahedrons. I- can further passivate the exposed (200) crystal plane when tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) was used for ligand exchange. The prepared CQDs films can be applied to infrared photodetectors and solar cells. Finally, the particle size of CQDs was analyzed by Scherrer formula and the probability statistical model was proposed. The correction coefficient of the particle size of PbS CQDs related to the shape factor was summarized.
Cobalt sulfide (CoS) is a zero bandgap transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs). However, the bandgap of CoS can be altered when it exists as low-dimensional material, such as quantum dots (QDs), via different preparation methods. In this work, CoS QDs were successfully prepared by liquid-phase ultrasonic exfoliation method and CoS QDs film was obtained by spin coating CoS QDs solution onto a substrate. The morphology, structural, chemical properties, thickness, vibration peaks and chemical bonds of CoS QDs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy (Raman) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The absorption and fluorescence characteristics of the CoS QDs were studied using ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) and fluorescence spectroscopies. Results show that the average size of CoS QDs was 9.1 nm and average thickness was 8.4 nm and CoS QDs solution and film exhibited absorption in the infrared band. With an increase of excitation and emission wavelength, both the photoluminescence (PL) peak and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) peak of CoS QDs solution and film showed red-shift, which demonstrates Stokes shift effect and dependency on wavelength and have near-infrared luminescence characteristics. The infrared absorption and near-infrared luminescence properties of CoS QDs solution and film imply that they can be found important application in the field of infrared detection. Such novel material is expected to play a crucial role in low-cost, high performance infrared photodetector.
Transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) have wide-ranging applications in nanoelectronics and optoelectronics due to their unique energy band structure and excellent properties. Iron(Ⅱ) sulfide quantum dots (FeS QDs) are environmentally friendly semiconductor material and exhibit excellent near-infrared properties because of their narrow bandgap, which is essential for infrared detectors. In this paper, FeS QDs were prepared by liquid phase ultrasonic exfoliation and the solution of FeS QDs was spin-coated on a quartz substrate to form a film. The morphology, structural and optical properties of FeS QDs solutions and films were studied. FeS QDs demonstrated good dispersion with average particle size and height of approximately 11.7 and 10.4 nm, respectively. The calculated average particle size of FeS QDs was 12.7 nm using the Debye-Scherrer formula, which is in good agreement with the TEM characterization. The ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) characterization of the FeS QDs solutions and films exhibited obvious absorption in the ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelength band, and the absorption was stable in the near-infrared wavelength band. The photoluminescence (PL) characterization of the FeS QDs solutions and films revealed luminescence properties in the near-infrared wavelength band, and the peak position appeared to be red-shifted with an increase in excitation wavelength, which suggests excitation wavelength-dependent luminescence properties. The FeS QDs exhibit good infrared characteristics and can potentially be used in infrared photovoltaic and photodetector.
As one of the cornerstones of photoelectric detection system, ultraviolet (UV) detector has the ability to convert UV signal into electrical signal, which is widely used in optical communication, biomedicine, and other fields. NiO has a strong absorption of UV light due to its wide band gap of 3.4 to 4.1eV. In addition, NiO exhibits a p-type conduction at room temperature. Thus, it is often used to form a pn junction in combination with a n-type semiconductor for photodetection. Si has the unique advantages of being integrated and compatible with CMOS processes. By constructing the NiO/n-Si heterojunction, the advantages of Si and NiO can be combined to prepare high performance and low-cost UV detectors. However, most of the reported NiO/n-Si UV detectors showed large dark current and low UV responsivity. Besides the defects in the silicon and NiO, the thickness of NiO film is an important factor that affects the performance. Herein, the NiO/n-Si UV photovoltaic detectors with different NiO film thicknesses were fabricated. The effect of NiO film thicknesses, such as 32, 74, 113, 147, 198 and 270 nm, on the performance of NiO/n-Si UV detector was investigated. A NiO/n-Si UV detector with a NiO thickness of 198 nm showed the excellent performance with a low dark current of 0.6 μA at -1 V and a high rectification ratio of 1.8×104 at ±1 V. The maximum responsivity (R) and detectivity (D*) of the device were 1.3 A/W and 5.7×1011 Jones, respectively, under 365 nm UV illumination. This work demonstrated that controlling NiO thickness has an essential influence on the performance optimization of NiO/n-Si UV photovoltaic detector.
In this work, two-dimensional graphene oxide (GO) (e.g., oxygenated graphene sheets with epoxy, hydroxyl, and carboxyl groups) was reduced to zero-dimensional Br-doped GO quantum dots (Br-GODs) using a one-step method. The GO, which exhibits poor electrical conductivity, was reduced to Br-GODs using hydrobromic acid as a bromine source and reducing agent during hydrothermal reaction. The morphology, structural and photoelectric properties of GO and Br- GODs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet-visible near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL), photoluminescence emission (PLE), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). A photodetector based on Br-GODs material, consisting of interdigitated electrodes, was prepared. The responsivity (R) and detectivity (D*) of the photodetector can reach a maximum of 0.54 A/W and 4.33 × 1013 Jones, respectively, under 850 nm illumination.
Quantum dots infrared photodetector (QDIP) has found important applications due to its many advantages, such as long effective carrier life, low dark current, high operating temperature, facile preparation and low cost. In recent years, infrared photodetectors consisting of PbS and HgTe colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) have reported breakthroughs in the detection of short-wave infrared (SWIR) and mid-wave infrared (MWIR) demonstrating detectivity of 1×1013 Jones and 1×1011 Jones, respectively. However, these materials contain Pb and Hg elements, which are harmful to human and the environment. Therefore, the development of non-toxic quantum dot materials is highly desirable for QDIP. In this work, Ag2Se CQDs were studied for use in infrared photodetector. The novel CQDs have the advantages of low toxicity, good infrared optical properties, which can obtain adjustable infrared absorption due to its small bulk band gap of 0.15 eV, and biocompatibility etc. The Ag2Se CQDs were prepared by hot injection method and were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared spectrum (FTIR), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). These Ag2Se CQDs demonstrated good monodispersion, size uniformity and crystallization. Interestingly, the exciton peak appeared in the infrared band of 3-4 μm. Subsequently, Ag2Se CQDs photodetector was produced by spin coating the CQDs onto a 5 μm interdigital electrode. The device exhibited a low dark current of 1.3×10-6 mA with responsivity of 5 A/W and detectivity of 1.5×1013 Jones. The results of this work show that Ag2Se CQDs are expected to have potential applications in QDIP.
Photodetectors convert optical signals into electrical signals and have found many important applications ranging from environmental monitoring to communication systems. At present, most photodetectors are based on either bulk materials or epitaxially grown materials (such as InSb and HgCdTe), which limit its widespread applications due to relatively high fabrication cost. However, photodetector based on organic polymer/colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) can provide a low-cost alternative. In this paper, a broadband photodetector consisting of organic polymer phenyl-c61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and PbS CQDs was fabricated. Combining the advantages of PbS CQDs and organic polymer PCBM, the device demonstrated good spectral response ranging from the UV to the NIR with a maximum responsivity and detectivity of 0.3 A/W and 6.6 × 1011 Jones, respectively, under illumination of 850 nm incident light. The device can be fabricated on almost any substrate due to the solution-processibility of CQDs. Furthermore, the use of organic polymer substrate can significantly reduce the cost of device and broaden its applications (such as in flexible electronics). This work provides a simple and efficient strategy to fabricate photodetector that exhibits multi-band response at relatively low-cost.
Silicon (Si) based photodetectors have been widely used in numerous applications due to their low-cost, high efficiency and good process compatibility. In this paper, a photodetector based on Si mesa heterojunction is reported. Si was doped by ion implantation and used to fabricate a photodetector. The conditions of ion implantation were simulated using a software to obtain the required process parameters before the commencement of the implantation process. The process involved deposition of 100 nm SiO2 film on to the Si substrate, and B ions were injected with 160 keV energy, 6×1014 cm-2 injection dose and at 7° dip angle. After ion implantation, the material was annealed at 900 ℃ for 30 min to repair crystal damages and activate the impurity level. Subsequently, a Si-based mesa heterojunction photodetector was fabricated using a series of standard processes. The photosensitive area of each device unit was 2.04 × 10-2 mm2 . The responsivity of the photodetector in the near ultraviolet and visible bands was more than 0.14 A/W under the bias of -2V. The responsivity of the device was measured using a 1073 K blackbody source, and the voltage responsivity of the blackbody was 1.35×102 V/W. Results from the C-V measurements revealed that the Si has a carrier concentration in the order of 1019 cm-3, which is in good agreement with the simulated results. The experimental results showed that ion implantation has an important effect on the electronic properties of the material and can greatly improve the photoelectric properties of devices.
SnTe is a new two-dimensional (2D) material, which has many merits, such as the bandgap of SnTe film can be adjusted by changing the film thickness hence its photoelectric properties can be regulated. SnTe belongs to topological crystal insulator (TCI) and has gapless topological surface states as well as exhibiting high carrier mobility at room temperature. SnTe has a narrow band gap and has potential for wavelength extension in the development of novel infrared photodetectors. Si is a traditional semiconductor material and has been widely used in the preparation of various semiconductor devices due to its numerous merits, such as low-cost and well-established preparation methodology. However, the detection wavelength of Si photoelectric detector is limited by its relatively large bandgap (1.12 eV). Recently, some progress has been made in fabricating photovoltaic detectors consisting of new 2D materials and Si. In this study, an efficient and low-cost magnetron sputtering method was used to prepare SnTe nanofilm on Si substrate. A photovoltaic detector based on the vertical heterostructure of SnTe/Si was fabricated using Al as electrode material. J-V characterization of the SnTe/Si heterostructure showed that the device exhibited good diode and photovoltaic characteristics under the illumination of various LED light sources with wavelength between 400 and 1450 nm, and its photocurrent was larger than the dark current. Moreover, under 850 nm illumination, the SnTe/Si device has a high responsivity (R) of 260 mA/W and detectivity (D*) of 3.36×1010 cmHz1/2W-1. Therefore, the device demonstrated potential application in the field of broadband photoelectric detection.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.