Ultra-wideband self-powered photodetector based on suspended reduced graphene oxide with asymmetric metal contacts

Abstract

The ultraviolet to terahertz band forms the main focus of optoelectronics research, while light detection in different bands generally requires the use of different materials and processing methods. However, researchers are aiming to realize multi-band detection simultaneously in the same device in certain specific application scenarios and ultra-wideband photoelectric detectors can also realize multi-function and multi-system integration. Therefore, the research and development work on ultra-wideband photoelectric detectors has important practical application value. Here, we produced self-powered suspended Pd-reduced graphene oxide-Ti (Pd-rGO-Ti) photodetectors. We varied the properties of the rGO films by using different annealing temperatures and achieved p-doping and n-doping of the films by evaporating palladium films and titanium films, respectively, thus enabling preparation of photothermoelectric (PTE) photodetectors based on rGO films. The resulting detectors have excellent photoelectric responses over a wideband illumination wavelength range from 375 nm to 118.8 μm (2.52 THz). At the same time, we determined the best experimental conditions and device structure by varying the channel width, the laser spot irradiation position and the experimental atmospheric pressure. The maximum responsivity obtained from our detectors is 142.08 mV W⁻¹, the response time is approximately 100–200 ms and the devices have high detection sensitivity. Based on this work, we assumed in the subsequent experiments that detectors with higher performance can be obtained by reducing the channel width and atmospheric pressure. With advantages that include simple fabrication, low cost, large-scale production potential and ultra-wideband responses, these Pd-rGO-Ti photodetectors have broad application prospects in high-performance integrated optoelectronics.