ZnO ultraviolet photodetector modified with graphdiyne

ZnO is an ideal material for ultraviolet (UV) detection due to its wide direct-bandgap, high exciton binding energy, and high internal photoconductive gain. However, ZnO UV detectors have the disadvantages of slow response speed and low detectivity. Graphdiyne (GD) is a novel carbonaceous allotrope, and possesses excellent electronic performance in air. In this study, the metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structured lateral ZnO UV detectors were prepared, and GD was employed to modify the ZnO surface. The effects of GD deposited 1–3 times (viz. 1T, 2T, and 3T GD) on the performance of ZnO ultraviolet detector were carefully investigated. The results show that the dark current of the bare ZnO detector is 24 μA under a bias of 10 V, while that of the graphdiyne-modified detector is ~0.34 μA (about two orders of magnitude reduction). The dark current remains almost the same for the 1T, 2T and 3T GD films. The photocurrents of 1–3T GD-modified detectors were 0.21, 0.32, 0.27 mA, respectively. The device modified with 2T GD displays the highest photocurrent, which is significantly enhanced in comparison to the unmodified device (0.08 mA) under a 365-nm UV radiation of 100 μW·cm⁻². Meanwhile, the responsivity and detectivity are improved remarkably. Under a bias of 10 V, the 2T-GD-modified detector displays high responsivity of 1759 A·W⁻¹ and detectivity of 4.23×10¹⁵ Jones. The detectivity is thus far the highest for ZnO UV detectors prepared by the sol-gel method. The improved performance of the GD-modified detector is attributed to the p-n junction formed between the GD and the ZnO film. At dark, the p-n junction is formed between the ZnO film and the GD, which greatly decreases the dark current of the detector. Under UV illumination, photogenerated holes accumulate in the GD, reducing electron-hole recombination; thus, the photocurrent is significantly increased. Furthermore, desorption and absorption of oxygen on the ZnO surface are much reduced due to the GD attached on the ZnO surface, thus improving the response speed of the detector. However, the intensive distribution of GD slightly hinders the UV absorption of ZnO thin films, reducing the responsivity of the detector. Careful optimization shows that the use of 2T GD gives the best output, and the corresponding ZnO UV detector exhibits very good performance. Overall, this study demonstrates that using GD can effectively improve the performance of ZnO UV detector.