Abstract
An efficient room-temperature self-powered, broadband (300 nm–1100 nm) photodetector based on a CuO–TiO2/TiO2/p-Si(100) heterostructure is demonstrated. The CuO–TiO2 nanocomposites were grown in a two-zone horizontal tube furnace on a 40 nm TiO2 thin film deposited on a p-type Si(100) substrate. The CuO–TiO2/TiO2/p-Si(100) devices exhibited excellent rectification characteristics under dark and individual photo-illumination conditions. The devices showed remarkable photo-response under broadband (300–1100 nm) light illumination at zero bias voltage, indicating the achievement of highly sensitive self-powered photodetectors at visible and near-infrared light illuminations. The maximum response of the devices is observed at 300 nm for an illumination power of 10 W. The response and recovery times were calculated as 86 ms and 78 ms, respectively. Moreover, under a small bias, the devices showed a prompt binary response by altering the current from positive to negative under illumination conditions. The main reason behind this binary response is the low turn-on voltage and photovoltaic characteristics of the devices. Under illumination conditions, the generation of photocurrent is due to the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs within the built-in electric field at the CuO–TiO2/TiO2 interface. These characteristics make the CuO–TiO2/TiO2 broadband photodetectors suitable for applications that require high response speeds and self-sufficient functionality.
