Progress in two-dimensional material photodetectors

Recently, Li Liang, a researcher of the research group of liguanghai, a researcher of the Department of nano materials and device technology, Institute of solid state physics, Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Yanfeng, a professor of the Department of Applied Physics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, have made new progress in the field of two-dimensional material photoelectric detection and developed a photoelectric detector based on layered ternary telluride insite3. The photodetector has ultra fast optical response (545-576 NS) and broadband detection capability (365-1310 nm) from ultraviolet to near infrared (uv-nir) optical communication areas. Relevant research results were published on ACS Nano.

Photodetectors with broadband detection capability play an important role in many fields of daily life, and have been widely used in imaging, optical fiber communication, night vision and other fields. So far, photodetectors based on traditional materials (such as Gan, Si and InGaAs) have occupied the photodetector market from ultraviolet to near-infrared regions. However, the complex growth process of related materials and high manufacturing costs hinder the further development of these detectors. In order to meet these challenges, scientists are committed to developing two-dimensional material photodetectors with adjustable band gap, strong light matter interaction and easy integration.

Nowadays, many two-dimensional materials such as graphene, black phosphorus and tellurium have shown excellent broadband optical detection capabilities. However, at present, the number of high-performance broadband photodetectors based on two-dimensional materials is still limited. In particular, many photodetectors based on two-dimensional materials show high optical response and detection rate, but their response speed is slow, which may be attributed to their long carrier life. This low response speed limits the practical application of two-dimensional photodetectors. Recently, graphene, black phosphorus and some transition metal disulfides (TMDs) van der Waals heterojunction devices have shown the potential of two-dimensional materials in the field of high-speed and broadband photoelectric detection. However, graphene is a zero band gap material, black phosphorus is unstable under environmental conditions, and the manufacturing process of TMDs heterojunction is relatively complex, which limits the application of these materials in the field of photoelectric detection.

In view of this, a photoelectric detector based on layered ternary telluride insite3 was developed, and high-quality insite3 crystal was synthesized, and its Raman vibration mode was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. The indirect band gap of insite3 can be adjusted from 1.30 ev (monolayer) to 0.78 ev (bulk). In addition, the photoelectric detector based on insite3 shows ultrafast optical response (545-576 NS) from UV to near-infrared optical communication region (365-1310 nm), with the highest detection rate of 7.59 × 109Jones。 These outstanding performance values highlight the potential of layered insite3 based photodetectors in high-speed and broadband photoelectric detection.

Comparison between (a) spectral response of layered insite3 photodetectors and (b) performance of some two-dimensional material photodetectors reported

The research work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the leading talent team project of Anhui Province, the natural science foundation of Anhui Province, the open fund of Anhui advanced laser technology laboratory and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Paper link：https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c11628

Source: China Optical Journal Network