Reduced graphene oxide mid-infrared photodetector at 300 K

Abstract

We report on uncooled mid-infrared photovoltaic responses at 300 K arising in heterojunctions of reduced graphene oxide with p-Si. Two major photoresponse spectral peaks are observed, one in the near infrared starting at 1.1 μm corresponding to electron-hole pair generation in the Si substrate, and another at wavelengths below 2.5 μm, arising from properties of the reduced graphene oxide-Si heterojunction. Our analysis of the current-voltage characteristics at various temperatures suggests that the two materials form a type-II (broken-gap) heterojunction, with a characteristic transition between direct tunneling to field emission, to over-the-barrier excitation with increasing reverse voltage. Illumination was found to affect the onset of the transition between direct tunneling and field-emission, suggesting that the mid infrared response results from the excitation of minority carriers (electrons) from the Si and their collection in the reduced graphene oxide contact. The photoresponse near 1.1 μm showed a time constant at least five times faster than the one at 2.5 μm, which points to surface defects as well as high series resistance and capacitance as potentially limiting factors in this mode of operation. With proper device engineering considerations, these devices could be promising as a graphene-based platform for infrared sensing.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Sep 14, 2015
Source ID
10.1063/1.4931461

Entities

People

  • Declan Oller
  • Gustavo E Fernandes
  • Jimmy Xu
  • Jin Ho Kim

Organizations

  • Brown University
  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene