High-detectivity InAs nanowire photodetectors with spectral response from ultraviolet to near-infrared

InAs is a direct, narrow band gap (0.354 eV) material with ultrahigh electron mobility, and is potentially a good optoelectronic device candidate in the wide UV-visible-near-infrared region. In this work we report the fabrication of InAs nanowire-based photodetectors, which showed a very high photoresponse over a broad spectral range from 300 to 1,100 nm. The responsivity, external quantum efficiency and detectivity of the device were respectively measured to be 4.4 × 10³ AW^-1, 1.03 × 10⁶%, and 2.6 × 10¹¹ Jones to visible incident light. Time dependent measurements at different wavelengths and under different light intensities also demonstrated the fast, reversible, and stable photoresponse of our device. Theoretical calculations of the optical absorption and the electric field component distribution were also performed to elucidate the mechanism of the enhanced photoresponse. Our results demonstrate that the single-crystalline InAs NWs are very promising candidates for the design of high sensitivity and high stability nanoscale photodetectors with a broad band photoresponse. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]