Near-Infrared and Ultraviolet Photodetector Based on p–n Homojunction of Undoped and Phosphorus-Doped Zinc Oxide Nanorods

Abstract

The application of a p-n homojunction based on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods as photodetector is presented in this study. The homojunctions were grown via chemical bath deposition for 6, 9, and 12 hours per layer of the junction. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron micrographs confirmed the material composition, structure, and morphology of the grown device. Current-voltage (I-V) measurements were done to verify the diode-like behavior of the ZnO p-n homojunction. Upon illumination, it is observed through I-V curves and through photocurrent measurements that the fabricated device is sensitive to ultraviolet and near-infrared light, respectively. The peak sensitivities in the photocurrent spectrum were found tunable based on the observed red shift as the length of the nanorods is increased. In addition to this, upon applying a positive voltage bias, the response of the device was observed to enhance by 5 orders of magnitude. In general, the device was successfully proven to have a great potential for applications in photodetection.