Abstract:The efforts to pursue photo detection with extreme performance in terms of ultrafast response time, broad detection wavelength range, and high sensitivity have never been exhausted as driven by its wide range of optoelectronic and photonic applications such as optical communications, interconnects, imaging and remote sensing 1 . 2D Dirac semimetal graphene has shown excellent potential toward high performance photodetector with high operation speed, broadband response and efficient carrier multiplications benefiting from its linear dispersion band structure with high carrier mobility and zero bandgap [2][3][4] . As the three dimensional analogues of graphene, Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 processes all advantages of graphene as a photosensitive material but potentially has stronger interaction with light as bulk material and thus enhanced responsivity 5,6 , which promises great potential in improving the performance of photodetector in various aspects . In this work, we report the realization of an ultrafast broadband photodetector based on Cd3As2. The prototype metal-Cd3As2-metal photodetector exhibits a responsivity of 5.9 mA/W with response time of about 6.9 ps without any special device optimization. Broadband responses from 0.8 eV to 2.34 eV are measured with potential detection range extendable to far infrared and terahertz. Systematical studies indicate that the photo-thermoelectric effect plays important roles in photocurrent generation, similar to that in graphene. Our results suggest this emerging class of exotic quantum materials can be harnessed for photo detection with high sensitivity and high speed (~145 GHz) in challenging middle/far-infrared and THz range.Three dimensional Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 7,8 is a stable compound with ultrahigh carrier mobility up to 9×10 6 cm 2 V -1 S -1 (refs. 9-11), as a result of supressed backscattering of high Fermi velocity 3D Dirac fermions 9 . The high mobility of Cd3As2 surpasses suspended graphene and any bulk semiconductors, promising for new electronics and optoelectronics with supereme performance 5,6 . Comparing to their two dimensional counterpart graphene 5,6,12,13 and surface state of topological insulator 14 , 3D Dirac semimetals are more robust against enviromental defects or excess conducting bulk electrons 11 . On the other hand, 3D Dirac semimetals possess all advantages of 2D Dirac semimetals as photosensitive materials, which is inherent from the gapless linear dispersion of massless Dirac Fermions: extermely high mobility 9 and ultrafast transient time 15 for high speed response approaching terahertz operation speed 4,16 ; gapless bandstructure for chanlleging low energy photon detection 17 down to THz frequency [18][19][20] and efficient carrier multiplications to enhance the internal quantum efficiency 21,22 . Consequently, the emergency of stable 3D Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 provides outstanding opportunity as new class of material platform for optoelectronics.Experimental studies on Cd3As2 so far mainly focus on the tranport and angle resolved...