Improved Photoelectric Response in SnTe Through Optimized Metal Electrode Contacts

SnTe has become a highly promising infrared detection material due to its unique optoelectronic properties and broad application prospects. However, although the contact between metals and semiconductors significantly impacts the optoelectronic performance of devices, current research on SnTe and metal electrodes remains insufficient, which limits the further optimization and performance enhancement of SnTe in device applications. Here, we fabricated SnTe photodetector devices using Cr/Au and Ti/Pd/Au as metal electrodes. We observed that the devices with Ti/Pd/Au electrodes exhibited significantly lower resistance, on the order of hundreds of ohms, which are orders of magnitude smaller than the device resistances of Cr/Au contacts. Additionally, the photoelectric response of these devices with Ti/Pd/Au electrodes is about 100 times higher than that of the devices with Cr/Au contact, which shows better photoelectric performance. We attribute this performance improvement to the differences in metal work functions, which causes different Schottky barrier heights at the metal-semiconductor interface. Our work enhances the electrode contact performance in SnTe devices, paving the way for further development of SnTe-based detectors.