As environmental issues arise, the demand for self-powered
position-sensitive detectors (PSDs) is increasing because of their
advantages in miniaturization and low power consumption. Finding
higher efficiency schemes for energy conversion is paramount for
realizing high-performance self-powered PSDs. Here, a surface
plasmon-based approach was used to improve the energy conversion
efficiency, and a plasmon-enhanced lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE)
was observed in PSD with TiO2/Au nanorods (NRs)/Si
structure. The Au NRs convert absorbed light energy into electricity
by generating hot electrons, which are efficiently captured by the
TiO2 layer, and the PSD is capable of generating position
sensitivity as high as 251.75 mV/mm when illuminated by a 780 nm laser
without any external power supply, i.e. about five times higher than
similar sensors in previous studies. In addition, the position
sensitivity can be tailored by the thickness of TiO2 films.
The enhancement mechanism is investigated by a localized surface
plasmon (LSP)-driven carrier diffusion model. These findings reveal an
important strategy for high sensitivity and low energy cost PSDs while
opening up new avenues for energy harvesting self-powered position
sensors.