Journal Article

Demonstration of SWIR Silicon-Based Photodetection by Using Thin ITO/Au/Au Nanoparticles/n-Si Structure

Li, Xinxin, Jia, Haiqiang, Deng, Zhen, Ma, Ziguang, Wang, Wenxin, Chen, Hong, Du, Chunhua, Jiang, Yang

2022

Overview

Plasmonic photodetection based on the hot-electron generation in nanostructures is a promising strategy for sub-band detection due to the high conversion efficiencies; however, it is plagued with the high dark current. In this paper, we have demonstrated the plasmonic photodetection with dark current suppression to create a Si-based broadband photodetector with enhanced performance in the short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) region. By hybridizing a 3 nm Au layer with the spherical Au nanoparticles (NPs) formed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on Si substrate, a well-behaved ITO/Au/Au NPs/n-Si Schottky photodetector with suppressed dark current and enhanced absorption in the SWIR region is obtained. This optimized detector shows a broad detection beyond 1200 nm and a high responsivity of 22.82 mA/W at 1310 nm at −1 V, as well as a low dark current density on the order of 10−5 A/cm2. Such a Si-based plasmon-enhanced detector with desirable performance in dark current will be a promising strategy for realization of the high SNR detector while keeping fabrication costs low.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: Annealing / Au nanoparticle / dark current suppression / Electrodes / enhanced absorption / Fourier transforms / Morphology / Nanoparticles / photodetectors / Quantum dots / Radiation / Sensors / Spectrum analysis / SWIR