Tellurene Photodetector with High Gain and Wide Bandwidth

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have been extensively explored as a new class of materials with great potential. In particular, black phosphorus (BP) has been considered to be a strong candidate for applications such as high-performance infrared photodetectors. However, the scalability of BP thin film is still a challenge, and its poor stability in the air has hampered the progress of the commercialization of BP devices. Herein, we report the use of hydrothermal-synthesized and air-stable 2D tellurene nanoflakes for broadband and ultrasensitive photodetection. The tellurene nanoflakes show high hole mobilities up to 458 cm2/V·s at ambient conditions, and the tellurene photodetector presents peak extrinsic responsivity of 383 A/W, 19.2 mA/W, and 18.9 mA/W at 520 nm, 1.55 μm, and 3.39 μm light wavelength, respectively. Because of the photogating effect, high gains up to 1.9 × 103 and 3.15 × 104 are obtained at 520 nm and 3.39 μm wavelength, respectively. At the communication wavelength of 1.55 μm, the tellurene photodetector exhibits an exceptionally high anisotropic behavior, and a large bandwidth of 37 MHz is obtained. The photodetection performance at different wavelength is further supported by the corresponding quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations. Our approach has demonstrated the air-stable tellurene photodetectors that fully cover the short-wave infrared band with ultrafast photoresponse.

Strain‐Engineered Anisotropic Optical and Electrical Properties in 2D Chiral‐Chain Tellurium

“…[ 28,29,34,2,31 ] Exploration of the anisotropic strain response and properties in 2D materials has both scientific (e.g., anisotropic plasmons, linear dichroism, etc.) [ 35,36 ] and technologic significance (e.g., polarization‐sensitive detectors, [ 37,38,36,39 ] polarized imaging devices, [ 40,29 ] and high‐performance multiaxial strain sensors). [ 28 ]…”

“…2D tellurium (Te), an emerging 2D semiconductor, [ 41 ] boasts attractive characteristics, such as high carrier mobility, large electro‐optic activity, superior air‐stability, strong spin–orbit interaction, chirality‐induced Weyl nodes, etc. [ 42–44,38,45,41,46,47 ] 2D Te's intriguing structure [ 48,45,41,49 ] consists of an anisotropic chiral‐chain crystal lattice. Each Te atom is covalently bonded with its two nearest neighbors on the same chain, and the interchain interaction is weaker than the covalent bond.…”

1D to 2D Transition in Tellurium Observed by 4D Electron Microscopy

“…potential has been reported for optical sensors in the short-wave infrared band, [18] chemical sensors, [19] and biomedical applications [10,20] among others. [21][22][23][24] Historically, tellurium nanostructures have been synthesized by chemical reduction in a hydrothermal approach, generally involving an autoclave.…”

Enhancing light‐matter interaction in 2D materials by optical micro/nano architectures for high‐performance optoelectronic devices

“…In recent years, some BP-analogue monoelemental 2D materials (Xenes, for example, silicene, germanene, arsenene, antimonene, bismuthene, and tellurene) have emerged as promising candidates for optoelectronics because they display unique properties, such as high carrier mobilities, direct and tunable band structures, and large anisotropic effects. [48][49][50][51]…”