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Synthesis and characterization of Cu doped ZnO nanoparticles for stable and fast response UV photodetector at low noise current

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Abstract

The rising demand for optoelectronic devices to be operable in adverse environments necessitates the sensing of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Here, a highly sensitive, fast responding Cu doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (Nps) based UV photodetector (PD) is reported. For the first time, Cu doped ZnO Nps are grown via forced hydrolysis of acetate salt of metals in a polyol medium. Various characterization methods including X-Ray diffraction, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and Fourier infrared spectroscopy are used to testify the presence of Cu element in ZnO Nps, although the diffuse reflectance and PL characterization are used to study the optical properties. The performance of the PD has been established by photocurrent measurements under different power density. Our device exhibited good photoresponse under UV illumination (375 nm) at 1 V bias voltage. Furthermore, the response of the PD is much better than other detectors based on oxide semiconductors nanostructures, and, especially, it shows a higher responsivity as compared with other photodetectors. In addition, achieved a highest responsivity of 40.12 A/W, quick response (rise/decay time of 0.8 s/3 s) and high sensitivity (2 × 104) for the Cu doped ZnO Nps annealed at 300 °C. It is established that the devices under higher power incident light show much lower 1/f noise. These results are meaningful to the noise control and performance improvement in the development of Schottky diode based PD-devices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire des Energies et des Matériaux, LabEM-LR11ES34, Ecole Supérieure des Sciences et de la Technologie, Université de Sousse, Rue Lamine Abessi, 4011, Hammam Sousse, Tunisia

    Imen Ben Elkamel, Nejeh Hamdaoui & Ridha Ajjel

  2. Institut Supérieur des Technologies de l’Informatique et de la Communication, Université de Sousse, Gp1, 4011, Hammam Sousse, Tunisia

    Nejeh Hamdaoui & Lotfi Beji

  3. Unite de recherche “Synthèse et Structure de Nanomatériaux” UR11ES30, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Université de Carthage, 7021, Jarzouna, Tunisia

    Amine Mezni

  4. Département de physique, Collège des sciences et des arts d’Ar Rass, Université Qassim, Ar Rass, Saudi Arabia

    Lotfi Beji

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  1. Imen Ben Elkamel
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  2. Nejeh Hamdaoui
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  3. Amine Mezni
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Correspondence to Nejeh Hamdaoui.

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Ben Elkamel, I., Hamdaoui, N., Mezni, A. et al. Synthesis and characterization of Cu doped ZnO nanoparticles for stable and fast response UV photodetector at low noise current. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 30, 9444–9454 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-019-01276-2

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