Introduction

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) having a direct band gap, for example MoS2, WS2, and MoSe2, have generated a significant rise in the scientific research and interest for their utilization as the semiconducting channel materials for novel nanoelectronics and optoelectronics [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Besides TMDs and graphene, recently, a new class of 2D materials from single elements, such as black phosphorus (BP), arsenene, silicene, are being investigated for next-generation electronic devices [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19]. With longer stability, high carrier mobility, and large on/off current ratios, they have attracted tremendous attention in researching their electrical properties [20,21,22,23]. Considering that the intrinsic structural defects and the interfacial charge impurities induced high electron doping, most of the 2D semiconductors exhibit n-type conduction behaviour [24,25,26]. On the other hand, p-type conduction behaviour in the 2D semiconductor materials is largely affected due to the Fermi level pinning at the metal-2D semiconductor materials interface which induces a large Schottky Barrier height for the hole injection [12, 27,28,29,30].

In 2014, black phosphorus (BP) again gained scientific interest with a promising path for various applications based on this material [31,32,33,34,35]. Due to its direct and thickness-dependent band gap of 0.3–2.0 eV and high carrier mobility of more than 1000 cm2V−1 s−1 in comparison to various transition metal dichalcogenides [10, 11], BP quickly became the subject of many research efforts. Because of the Fermi level pinning at the contacts, and the small band gap, most BP transistors reported in the literature show n-type or ambipolar electrical transport properties [25, 36,37,38,39]. Conversely, reports about p-type BP transistors are scarce, which not only limits the fundamental understanding but also the broad integration of BP in technological applications, especially in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits.

Among various BP channel-based functional devices, non-volatile memory realization is considered one of the significant outcomes [40, 41]. Most memories based on non-volatile FET utilize a charge-trapping layer to collect and retain the electric charge induced by the gate pulse [40]. Additionally, non-volatile memory based on BP also holds great promise for future flexible and transparent devices because of the mechanical flexibility and tuneable electronic properties [38, 42].

Further, both high photoresponsivity and low dark current can be achieved by only a few photoconductive type photodetectors depending on a minority of semiconductors. In recent years, the research focus has been to lower the dark current and improve the photoelectric performance of photodetectors, heterojunctions, as well as of p–n heterojunctions. As a part of the p–n heterojunction in photoelectric devices, p-type semiconductor materials exhibit prominent and irreplaceable functions [7, 24, 43, 44]. Moreover, BP exhibits a strong light-matter interaction with light in the visible-to-infrared range, which makes this material a promising candidate for photodetector [45, 46] and photovoltaics applications [47].

However, due to high instability and easy degradation of the BP under ambient conditions [48], its implication is still limited in practical applications. To avoid the BP layer deterioration under air exposure, previously, we have shown that the utilization of a protective poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) layer, deposited over the top of a BP channel, would not alter the electrical properties of the fabricated device [41].

In the present work, the electrical properties of unipolar p-type BP transistors, obtained using high-work function Ni metal contacts, are explored. The transfer characteristics show a large hysteresis that depends linearly on the gate voltage and decreases with the drain bias. We exploit such a property to realize BP-based non-volatile memories, resulting in good endurance, and high retention time. We perform photodetection studies evidencing a long decay photocurrent, resulting from the trapping of carriers excited in the BP layer under the light illumination. More importantly, we demonstrate the linear behaviour of the fabricated device under varying incident laser powers and exposure times, which makes it suitable for photodetection applications.

Materials and methods

A bulk BP single crystal (by Smart Elements) was used for mechanically exfoliating the few layers BP thin flakes with an adhesive tape. The exfoliated flakes were transferred onto the 90 nm thick SiO2/p+ Si substrate. A detailed explanation of the device fabrication procedure can be found in our previously published work [41]. Before the electrical measurements, the PMMA layer was separated by simply keeping the device in acetone for 2 h and then cleaning it with isopropanol. The fabricated BP device was back-gated with a silver (Ag) paste onto the heavily doped p + Si substrate. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) (Nanosurf AG, Liestal, Switzerland) was used to measure the thickness of BP flake.

Electrical measurements were performed in a two-probe configuration mode using a Janis ST-500 probe station connected with a Keithley 4200 SCS (semiconductor characterization system), having a current and voltage sensitivity of about 1 pA and 2 µV, respectively. All the measurements were carried out at 2 mbar pressure and room temperature. To investigate the photoresponse of the BP flakes, a white laser source, (by NKT Photonics Super Compact), with an operating range between 450 and 2400 nm, at 100% of the full incident power of 80 mW, was employed.

Results and discussion

PMMA protective capping layer on the BP was removed, immediately before the electrical measurements in vacuum. Figure 1a illustrates a schematic structure of the fabricated back-gated BP device with Ni/Au metal contacts. The BP flake is stacked on the SiO2/p + Si substrate, with the two metal contacts made up of 70 nm Au on the top of 10 nm Ni over the flake. p + doped Si back-gated electrode was used for applied gate bias. During the photodetection measurements, a white laser is incidented from the top of the device. Figure 1b displays an optical micrograph of the fabricated device, of which two inner contacts were used for measurements. We used an AFM to measure the thickness of the BP flake. AFM measurements (Fig. 1c) were performed in the air after electrical measurements, which degrades the flakes. The measured flake thickness on the fabricated device is about 20 nm.

Figure 1
figure 1

a Schematic illustration of the BP/SiO2 fabricated device structure (not on scale), b optical image of the fabricated device, and c AFM image, and corresponding height profile along the marked dashed white line

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We first carried out two-terminal transport measurements between the source and drain leads. Figure 2a shows the output characteristics, i.e. the drain current (Id) as a function of the voltage drop between the two inner contacts (Vds), with the gate-source voltage (Vgs) as the control parameter. A linear performance, that is not affected by the gate bias, can be observed, indicating ohmic contacts and the absence of current saturation over the explored Vds range. An increase in the channel current at the negative gate bias shows that the device is typical of a p-type. Figure 2b shows the transfer characteristics of the device under a drain bias of 1 mV over growing loops of the gate voltage, up to \(-50\mathrm{ V }\le {V}_{\mathrm{gs}}\le 50\mathrm{ V}\). We avoided applying higher gate voltages to prevent gate oxide damage. The transfer characteristics confirm the p-type behaviour of the transistor, confirming that the Fermi level of the fabricated BP transistor with Ni contacts is near the valence band of BP flake. Indeed, to enhance device performance and modulate the BP transistor type, several metal contacts have been utilized. It has been reported that low-work function metals like scandium (Sc), aluminium (Al), or titanium (Ti) produced n-type behaviour, while high-work function metals like nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt), and palladium (Pd) were more likely to exhibit the p-type feature [49]. The ultimate polarity of the transistor is significantly influenced by both the work function of the metal contact and the thickness of the BP channel because the bandgap of BP is thickness-dependent. We also note that the transistor is in the on-state at zero gate voltage due to the doping effect of charges trapped at the BP/SiO2 interface and to residual adsorbates, such as O2 and H2O molecules, which act as p-dopant. Next, a low modulation in the current as well as an enhancement in the hysteresis width as a function of the Vgs sweeping range was observed. The low modulation of the current is because of the low energy band gap of the multi-layers BP as we did not apply pressure or strain, which could help in increasing the band gap [50,51,52,53,54,55]. Furthermore, the free carriers in the bottom layers of the BP flake were induced by the applied gate electric field, while in this situation, the top layers still provide finite conduction in the off state, lowering the modulation in the drain current.

Figure 2
figure 2

a Output, b transfer characteristics of the fabricated device, c hysteresis width at \({I}_{\mathrm{m}}=({I}_{\mathrm{on}}+{I}_{\mathrm{off}})/2\), and d calculated mobility as a function of the gate voltage

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Figure 2c demonstrates that the hysteresis width, defined as the Vgs difference corresponding to the average current, \({I}_{\mathrm{m}} =({I}_{\mathrm{on}} +{I}_{\mathrm{off}} )/2\) between the highest (\({I}_{\mathrm{on}})\) and lowest (\({I}_{\mathrm{off}})\) currents at the extreme of the gate voltage range (see Fig. 2b), is a linear function of Vgs. The large hysteresis width up to about 45 V is due to the trapped charges at the interface of BP/SiO2 and the intrinsic BP defects [56, 57]. The linear dependence of the hysteresis width on Vgs confirms that charge storage occurs across the SiO2 capacitor. Adsorbates, which usually play an important role in hysteresis, are expected to have here minor effects as the measurements were performed in vacuum [58, 59]. The following equation was used for calculating the charge carrier mobility of the BP film FETs,

$$\mu = \frac{L}{{WC_{{{\text{ox}}}} V_{{{\text{ds}}}} }}\frac{{{\text{d}}I_{{\text{d}}} }}{{{\text{d}}V_{{{\text{gs}}}} }}$$

where L and W are the channel length and width, respectively, and dId/dVgs is the maximum slope of the transfer curves.

We inferred two-terminal field-effect hole mobilities (see Fig. 2d), in the reverse and forward bias direction, with maximum values of 175 and 110 cm2 V−1 s−1 at \({V}_{\mathrm{ds}}\)= 1 mV, respectively. The different mobilities in the two directions and the dependence on \({V}_{\mathrm{gs}}\) can be ascribed to the interfacial trap states which are differently populated. We note that the observed hole mobility is higher than our previously reported value [41] as well as from other reports on thin BP [60, 61] and the recently reported p-type violet phosphorus [62] at room temperature.

Figure 3a shows the transfer curves of the fabricated BP device with Vds ranging from 0.25 to 3 mV. The measurements do not exhibit any ambipolar behaviour in the ± 50 V range, but a strong unipolar p–type conduction behaviour. Also, we note in Fig. 3b, a decrease in the hysteresis width as a function of increasing Vds. Such a trend points towards the role of the intrinsic traps in the BP channel, which add to the ones present at the BP/SiO2 interface in the generation of hysteresis. Lower \({V}_{\mathrm{ds}}\) facilitates charge trapping in the channel and results in wider hysteresis. The inset of Fig. 3b shows that both \({I}_{\mathrm{on}}\) and \({I}_{\mathrm{off}}\) currents depend linearly on Vds, confirming the device in the linear (triode) region over the investigated Vgs and Vds voltages.

Figure 3
figure 3

a Transfer characteristics and b hysteresis width (inset: Ion and Ioff values with a linear fit) of the fabricated BP FET at variable Vds

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Figure 4a shows the performance of the fabricated BP device, measured over a series of Vgs =  ± 30 V pulses, while the Id current is recorded over time, at 2 mbar pressure. When the gate pulse is in the high positive or negative state, the channel current increases or decreases rapidly, and trap states get filled or emptied by positive charge. After that, two states with different current values can be defined at Vgs =  ± 0 V, corresponding to the write and the read state of a memory device, respectively. The transient behaviour, in Fig. 4b, after a positive and a negative gate pulse shows that Id stabilizes at two distinct values that stay well separated for a few dozen seconds, demonstrating the non-volatile characteristic of the memory. The retention execution shows that the trapped charges are preserved without a loss of charge. Most of the memories relying on a charge-trapping mechanism do not achieve such long charge retention because of back tunnelling charge loss, opposite type carrier injection or charge redistribution in defects [63]. Conversely, the endurance and the charge retention [64], shown in Fig. 4a, b, respectively, highlight the potential use of BP transistors for non-volatile memory technology.

Figure 4
figure 4

a Channel current (blue line) recorded under gate pulses (red line) at ± 30 V showing repeated write–read–erase–read cycles, and b single write–read–erase–read cycle of the BP-based memory device

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To explore the photoresponse in the fabricated BP device, we examined the current–time characteristics for different light incident powers and exposure times. The measurements were carried out at 2 mbar pressure, thus the noise in the experimental data could be due to the presence of residual volatile compounds or water vapour in the surrounding environment. Figure 5a shows the device normalized current as a function of the laser incident power, \({P}_{\mathrm{inc}}\), indicating an increase with increasing laser intensity, at fixed Vds = 2 mV and Vgs = 0 V, respectively. The highest photocurrent was observed to be about 0.86 µA, with a laser incident power of 80 mW. Figure 5b demonstrates the corresponding linear behaviour between the photocurrent and the laser intensity. A linear dependence is found also when the current is plotted as a function of the laser exposure time as shown in Fig. 5c, and its inset. The linear response of the photodetector enhances the time-resolved photocurrent as the decay time increases [65], and we observed this phenomenon in our device also discussed in the next section. The observed linear behaviour is very promising for practical photodetection applications.

Figure 5
figure 5

a Normalized current in dark–light–dark conditions at various laser incident powers (only a subset of curves is shown), at fixed Vgs = 0 V and Vds = 2 mV, b photocurrent versus laser incident power, c current at various laser exposure times (inset: photocurrent versus exposure time), and d current decay and exponential fit of the current after 10 min laser exposure time (inset: current at various exposure times) of fabricated BP FET device

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We evaluate the photoresponsivity (R) of the device through the relation, \(R = {I}_{\mathrm{Light}}-{I}_{\mathrm{Dark}}/{P}_{\mathrm{inc}}\), where \({I}_{\mathrm{Light}}\) and \({I}_{\mathrm{Dark}}\) are the current under illumination and in dark recorded at Vds = 2 mV and Vgs = 0 V, respectively, \({P}_{\mathrm{inc}}\) is the laser power incident over the device area. Given the optical power of 80 mW at the surface of samples and an effective area of 100 μm2, we obtained R ≈ 340 mA W−1. The calculated responsivity is higher than that found for the BP of similar thickness [66], and much higher than the previously reported for other BP devices [67,68,69,70].

Next, from the experimental data, we calculated the detectivity (D) of the fabricated device, where D is defined as

$$\begin{array}{c}D=\frac{\sqrt{S}R}{\sqrt{2e{I}_{\mathrm{d}}}}\end{array}$$

where S is the effective area, R is responsivity, e is the electron charge, and Id is the dark current. The calculated detectivity for the 100 µm2 BP channel is 6.52 × 1011 Jones at room temperature. The obtained detectivity is larger than most BP-based photodetectors reported. The obtained high responsivity and detectivity at low power consumption levels are desirable, as they suggest the use of BP channel-based devices where the light is in scarceness. A comparison of the responsivity and detectivity with the recently published reports on the 2D materials is summarized in Table 1.

Table 1 Comparison of recently reported representative photodetectors based on 2D materials
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The slow rise and decay time of the photocurrent indicates that deep intra-gap states play a dominant role in the photoresponse of the BP device. Otherwise stated, the photocurrent seems to be dominated by charge excitation from trap sites rather than by electron–hole pair generation [75]. Analogously, when the light is switched off, carrier trapping seems to be the main mechanism that makes the current go back to its starting value. The decay process presents a single exponential decay character and can be fitted by an empirical equation stated as

$$y = A \times \exp \left( { - x/\tau } \right) + y_{0}$$

as shown in Fig. 5d. The need for a single characteristic time τ points to a single type of trap that dominates the decay process with a characteristic time τ ∼ 35 min (a similar analysis leads to a τ ∼ 10 min for the rise time). We remark that the prolonged photo carrier lifetime could be exploited for optical memory [76], light-emitting and lasing applications [77].

Conclusions

In summary, we have explored a BP-based field-effect transistor with Au/Ni contacts. The device shows p-type conduction behaviour with hole mobility up to 175 cm2 V−1 s−1. The transfer characteristics exhibit hysteresis that is modulated by the gate and the drain bias as a contribution of both extrinsic and intrinsic trap states. Hysteresis has been exploited to achieve the write and erase state of a memory device with long endurance and retention time. A photocurrent, corresponding to a responsivity of 340 mA W−1 and detectivity of about 6.52 × 1011 Jones, with a linear dependence on the light incident power and exposure time has been reported, showing promises for practical applications in photodetection. The slow, single exponential rise and decay time of the photocurrent indicates the dominant role of one type of trap and can be exploited to extend the functionality of the device to include optical memory effects.