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Self-powered and bipolar photodetector based on a van der Waals metal-semiconductor junction: Graphene/WSe2/Fe3GeTe2 heterojunction

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Abstract

A self-driven photosensor with signal-reversal response has the potential to work as a photodetector in complex environments with multiple signals owing to better signal recognition and enhanced signal-processing efficiency. Herein, a metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector based on ambipolar WSe2 with two electrodes comprising two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdWs) metal Fe3GeTe2 and semimetal graphene was proposed to form an asymmetrical metal-contacted architecture with different Schottky barrier heights. The regulating gate field-induced Fermi level shift in WSe2 can be used to manipulate the WSe2 channel’s carrier type, resulting in a polarity-reversible photodetector without a bias voltage. Furthermore, the photovoltaic effect can be observed from wavelengths of 450 nm (visible) to 850 nm (infrared) without external voltage. The large open voltage is −0.177 V and short-circuit current is 17 nA under a 650-nm excitation wavelength. The reported WSe2-based photodetector exhibits excellent properties under zero bias, including a large photo-to-dark current ratio greater than 106 with dark current less than 1 fA, photovoltaic performance with an external quantum efficiency of 27.14%, an excellent detectivity of 3.4×1010 Jones, and a high responsivity of 116.38 mA/W. Rapid electron transfer occurs at the interface between WSe2 and vdWs electrodes, resulting in a 370-µs response speed owing to the clean and nondestructive interfaces between vdWs metals and WSe2. This study demonstrates the wide application prospect of the vdWs metal Fe3GeTe2 as an electrode forming a Schottky junction for realizing a photodetector without an external voltage and accelerates the development of 2D photosensors with various working modes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, Faculty of Materials and Manufacturing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    GuoLiang Xu, DanMin Liu, JingJie Li & ShuaiShuai Ye

  2. Key Laboratory of Optoelectronics Technology, College of Microelectronics, Faculty of Information Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    JingZhen Li

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  1. GuoLiang Xu
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  2. DanMin Liu
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Correspondence to JingZhen Li.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51972006) and the Beijing Postdoctoral Work Funding Project (Grant No. Q6043001202101)

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The supporting information is available online at tech.scichina.com and link.springer.com. The supporting materials are published as submitted, without typesetting or editing. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and content remains entirely with the authors.

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11431_2022_2031_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Self-powered and bipolar photodetector based on a van der Waals Metal-Semiconductor Junction: Graphene/WSe2/Fe3GeTe2 Heterojunction

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Xu, G., Liu, D., Li, J. et al. Self-powered and bipolar photodetector based on a van der Waals metal-semiconductor junction: Graphene/WSe2/Fe3GeTe2 heterojunction. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 65, 1263–1272 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-022-2031-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-022-2031-7

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