Low power consumption, high sensitivity, and miniaturization
of
photodetectors are important features in future photonic systems.
Therefore, photoelectrochemical-type photodetectors with an independent
power supply, high performance, and compact structure have attracted
great interest in recent years. However, the development of a photoelectrochemical-type
photodetector with excellent crystal quality and sufficient contact
area between nanorod arrays and the electrolyte environment remains
a challenge. In this work, a self-powered and solar-blind photodetector
based on α-Ga2O3 nanorod arrays in a photoelectrochemical
unit structure was fabricated, and the α-Ga2O3 nanorod arrays were synthesized by a short-term-reaction
and ultra-low-cost hydrothermal route. The prepared self-powered photodetector
has superior photoresponsivity of 3.87 mA/W, a high I
photo/I
dark ratio of 12.81,
and photoresponse rise and decay times of 0.23 and 0.15 s, respectively,
under 254 nm deep ultraviolet light with a light intensity of 3.0
mW/cm2, which are better than those of reported α-Ga2O3 based photodetectors. The superb crystal quality
of the α-Ga2O3 nanorod arrays, which provides
a fast passage for photogenerated carrier transport, and the effective
separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs controlled
by the built-in electric field of the semiconductor/electrolyte solid–liquid
heterojunction interface are largely responsible for the outstanding
performance of our photodetector. Undoubtedly, self-powered and energy-efficient
device proposed in our work is a promising candidate for solar-blind
photodetector applications.
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