“Cage-confinement” controlled dimensionality conversion of Bi2O2Se crystals towards high-performance phototransistors†
Abstract
2D Bi2O2Se is an intriguing building block for next-generation optoelectronic devices owing to its ultrahigh electron mobility and ultrabroadband photodetection capability. However, fully exploiting its advantages in advanced optoelectronic applications remains greatly challenging owing to the lack of in-depth understanding of the morphological evolution of Bi2O2Se crystals and efficient methods for enhancing their photoresponse. Herein, we developed a novel “cage-confinement” technique to achieve dimensionality-tunable growth of Bi2O2Se crystals in a space-confined CVD system. It can effectively control the key parameter of determining the dimensionality of crystals, referred to as the elastic strain energy of nucleation (ΔGs), by tuning the active area size of Bi2O3 seeds at a suitable flow rate of carrier gas. Furthermore, based on an optimized van der Waals transfer technique of crystals and electrodes, a sheet-shaped phototransistor of Bi2O2Se has a high responsivity (R) of ∼74 000 A W−1 and detectivity (D*) of ∼4.0 × 1011 Jones. Meanwhile, a wire-shaped device demonstrates an impressive R value of 300 000 A W−1, D* value of 3.9 × 1012 Jones and photoconductance gain (Gph) of 1.2 × 105. These results surpass most reported Bi2O2Se-based detectors and pave the way for the applications of 2D layered semiconductors in advanced optoelectronic devices and technologies.