The photoconductive characteristics of CdS single nanoribbons were investigated. The device characteristics, including spectral response, light intensity response, and time response, were studied systematically. It is found that CdS nanoribbon has the response speed substantively faster than those ever reported for conventional film and bulk CdS materials and the size of nanoribbons has a significant influence on the response speed with smaller CdS nanoribbons showing higher response speed. The high photosensitivity and high photoresponse speed are attributable to the large surface-to-volume ratio and high single-crystal quality of CdS nanoribbons and the reduction of recombination barrier in nanostructures. Measurements in a different atmosphere demonstrate that the absorption of ambient gas (mainly oxygen) can significantly change the photosensitivity of CdS nanoribbons through trapping electrons from the nanoribbons.

Tetragonal CsPbBr nanosheets were obtained by an oriented attachment of orthorhombic CsPbBr nanocubes, involving a lateral shape evolution from octagonal to square. Meanwhile, the experimental results, together with DFT simulation results, indicated that the tetragonal CsPbBr is an indirect bandgap semiconductor that is PL-inactive with a bandgap of 2.979 eV.

Arrays of well‐aligned single‐crystal zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires of uniform diameter and length have been synthesized on a (100) silicon substrate via a simple horizontal double‐tube system using chemical vapor transport and condensation method. X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterizations showed that the as‐grown nanowires had the single‐crystal hexagonal wurtzite structure with detectable defects and a <0002> growth direction. Raman spectra revealed phonon confinement effect when compared with those of ZnO bulk powder, nanoribbons, and nanoparticles. Photoluminescence exhibited strong ultraviolet emission at 3.29 eV under 355 nm excitation and green emission at 2.21 eV under 514.5 nm excitation. No catalyst particles were found at the tip of the nanowires, suggesting that the growth mechanism followed a self‐catalyzed and saturated vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) model. Self‐alignment of nanowires was attributed to the local balance and steady state of vapor flow at the substrate. The growth technique would be of particular interest for direct integration in the current silicon‐technology‐based optoelectronic devices.

Photodetectors are fabricated from individual single‐crystal CdSe nanoribbons, and the photoresponse properties of the devices are studied systematically. The photodetector shows a high sensitivity towards excitation wavelength with a sharp cut‐off at 710 nm, corresponding to the bandgap of CdSe. The device exhibits a high photo‐to‐dark current ratio of five orders of magnitude at 650 nm, and can function with excellent stability, reproducibility, and high response speed (< 1 ms) in a wide range of switching frequency (up to 300 Hz). The photocurrent of the device shows a power‐law dependence on light intensity. This finding together with the analysis of the light intensity‐dependent response speed reveals the existence of various traps at different energy levels (shallow and deep) in the bandgap. Coating with a thin SiO2 isolating layer increases the photocurrent but decreases the response speed of the CdSe nanoribbon, which is attributed to reduction of recombination centers on ribbon surface.