Issue 14, 2020

Opto-electronic coupling in semiconductors: towards ultrasensitive pressure sensing

Abstract

The discovery of a giant piezoresistive effect in a semiconductor heterojunction by optoelectronic coupling can open a new era for mechanical sensors. This paper develops a novel concept of opto-electronic coupling in semiconductor heterojunctions for pressure sensing. We employ non-uniform illumination of visible light on a SiC/Si heterojunction to generate a gradient of charge carriers in the SiC nanofilm. These charge carriers are then manipulated by a tuning current, producing giant relative resistance changes in the material under applied pressure. We successfully demonstrated the enhancement by opto-electronic coupling in a SiC/Si heterojunction pressure sensor of sensitivity up to 185 000 times compared to the unilluminated condition. In addition, the opto-electronic coupling enables significantly improved repeatability, stability, signal-to-noise ratio and detectable range of the pressure sensor. The ultrahigh sensitive pressure sensing mechanism by opto-electronic coupling will pave a way for development of extremely sensitive mechanical sensors.

Graphical abstract: Opto-electronic coupling in semiconductors: towards ultrasensitive pressure sensing

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Jan 2020
Accepted
04 Mar 2020
First published
04 Mar 2020

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020,8, 4713-4721

Opto-electronic coupling in semiconductors: towards ultrasensitive pressure sensing

T. Nguyen, T. Dinh, H. Phan, T. Nguyen, A. R. Md Foisal, N. Nguyen and D. V. Dao, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020, 8, 4713 DOI: 10.1039/D0TC00229A

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